The Blade Alchemist (Update in progress)
by Greivous166
Summary: A soldier in the military has been having the same odd dream for months. A white void, a large door, and a creepy looking fellow who calls himself "Truth". He doesn't understand at first, that is until he is killed in action. When he is taken to the gate, a new journey begins for him as he learns about his new home. Follows the FMA Brotherhood series with slight twists. ExW, OCxOC.
1. The Dreams

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Dreams

Drakes POV

White, nothing but white. No floor, walls, or ceiling. It doesn't matter where I look, everything is white. And so quiet. Not like at night where you can hear the crickets chirp, or hear the wind blowing by your ears. Absolute silence. In fact, as I look around, I see that I am the only thing, living or otherwise, in this strange place. "Hello",I call out. I wait for a few seconds to hear a reply, but no answer. "Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?" Again I wait for even the slightest hint of an answer, or even just any form of noise in particular.

…..Nothing.

I start to take a few steps, turning and looking every which way for any hint of life. **"** **Hello there."** Shocked, I quickly turn around to the sound of the voice, only to be faced with a large, stone doorway of some sort towering over me. _Where the hell did this thing come from?! There is no way I could have missed seeing something as large as that!_ And it was no understatement. This door of sorts had to be around ten to fifteen feet wide, and at least four times that in height! I mean nobody could have possibly missed it, even from miles away! I decided to take a second to study the door a little, seeing as it was the only thing there besides me. On the door was a carving of what looked to be a large tree with branches extending out on either side. There were also some letters or words littered all around it that appeared to be Latin, possibly Greek or the such.

" **I've been waiting for you"** I twitched at the sound of the strange voice again, but the sound and tone of it caused me to sweat a little. I looked at where the strange voice was coming from. At the base of the stone door was a person, or…..being?, sitting Indian style. What I immediately noticed about this 'person' was he is completely white. Not caucasian or such, just….white. It looked like someone who thought it was a great idea to go swimming in a pool of white paint! But as if that wasn't odd enough, I looked closer and saw that he had no eyes! What's more, he seemed to had some sort of black hue around his form. And then there was that smile. I was shocked about where I was, that 'door', and the being that sat before me. But the only thing that gave me the slightest bit of fear was that sinister smile.

I swallowed with my eyes wide and fixated on the strange being, until suddenly the door opened. Inside was solid black, like a moonless night. The doors stopped moving and then a great, large 'eye' opened in the middle of the darkness, and I felt a terrible pain in my legs. I look down to see that both of my legs are gone! Just….gone! I felt something grab onto me and pull me. I look up to see dozens of strange black hands lifting me up and pulling me into the doorway. I try to struggle against it but there were too many of them. I managed to turn around and see the door closing behind me, the last thing I see being the one thing that for some reason I truly feared. That smile!

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

I thrust myself up out of sleep clutching my chest, my breathing completely hysteric, sweat pouring from my face, and my heart beating very rapidly. I try to slow down my breathing to bring my heart rate back down to earth. Then something quickly occurred to me. I reach down to the foot of the cot and rip the covers off. Underneath were two fleshy limbs with feet attached. I let out a sigh of relief and closed my eyes. _Still there. Thank god my legs are still there._ After a couple of minutes I finally managed to get my heart rate and breathing back to normal.

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The alarm on my clock started beeping again, from lack of pressing to 'Off' button and instead going into 'Snooze' mode. "Just shut up already." I reach over and press the button on top of the alarm clock that was sitting on the small folding table next to my cot, causing the alarm to silence. I lay back down on my back and press my hands up against my forehead and over my eyes. I began rubbing the front and sides of my face to coast the sleep away. "Goddamn it." I said and as I lie there I began to run over the weird dream I just had.

 _That dream again. The same dream over and over again every night. It's not that its a nightmare, but then….it's not a good dream either. I once read that dreams like this tend to come to those who are stressed out, but what am I stressed about? I've been blown up, shot at, and stabbed. But now everything over here has calmed down. There has not even been a single shot fired in over a year besides simple crimes and such. I have no reason to be stressed. But yet I've been having the same exact dream for months now. I don't understand it, they have to mean something.….Don't they?_

 _KNOCK KNOCK_

I was pulled back to my senses with the loud tapping on the door to my 'room' (if you consider a

7ft X 5ft construction site office shack as a room) that only added to my bad evening. At the time, my platoon was assigned to night patrols, so we had to sleep during the day. "Sergeant Ganters, are you awake?" I instantly recognized the voice belonging to Private Lucas, my tanks driver. His driving wasn't the best the army had by a large margin, but he was by no means an idiot. He was one of the few drivers I knew who could get the vehicle to do what he wanted it to with no issues. His main issue in regards to driving was that he had a tenancy to misjudge distance, resulting in numerous 'fender-benders' (fender-bender meaning that we normally had to pull fenders from our tracks). "Yeah, I'm up. What do you need?" I replied back. "The LT wants to see all TC's in front of his shack in 15 minuets, Sarge." I gave a silent moan to myself, then sighed. _Goddamn it! One thing after another! God I want to smack that guy so bad!_

"Roger, thanks. I'll be right there." I gave a long sigh and groaned again. Then I heard Lucas speak again, "Oh, and last thing Sarge. Our tank just got back from the mechanics 2 hours ago. They said its good to go." _That's right, I almost forgot about that._ 4days ago, our tanks' main hydraulic line in the turret blew its seal and gave the equipment and the entire crew a shower in FRH (Fire Retardant Hydraulic). I've had to wash blood out of my uniform a few times before, even the notorious 'Georgia clay', but tank hydraulic fluid is by far the worst. And don't get me started on when it comes to cleaning it off your body. "Roger", I answered.

After hearing Lucas walk away, I got up and began getting dressed. As much as I hate it, I was forced to sleep in only my boxers due to the triple digit outside temperature and a busted air conditioner. Total indoor temp, a whopping 87 degrees! The fan helped a little, but not by much.

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

"GODDAMN IT! SHUT THE HELL UP!" I yelled under my breath as I slammed my hand on the alarm clock again. "This is NOT going to be a good day!" I put on my uniform top, grabbed my carbine and pistol and left the room to see what the LT wanted. As always, the first thing I notice when I walk out is the unbearable heat. _Holy shit its hot, and its only June! I am not looking forward to July and August._ Annnnndddd, that just made it worse. Now because I was thinking about it, the temp just went up by 20-30 degrees.

I came around the corner to see my Platoon Sergeant, Sergeant First Class Yeti (and yes, he is just as big as one too, I still cant believe that guy can fit through the tank hatch!), and my counterpart Staff Sergeat Quillo. They were already chatting away with the Platoon Leader (LT) First Lieutenant Zeeks (bad day for him if we have to do anything in alphabetical order). "Good evening sir." I said as I walked up and saluted him, which he returned. "Evening Sergeant Ganters. Ok, now that everyone is here I'll give you the rundown.

We all pulled out our pens and notepads so we could take notes on the briefing. "The CO is changing our shifts back over to days, and as much as I tried to have our mission either canceled or switched to one of the other platoons, he said no. So unfortunately, we have our mission tonight as well as the mission tomorrow back-to-back. After the mission tonight we will…..." The LT's words were then cut off as I began thinking about the ordeal in my head. _I FUCKING KNEW IT! WORST DAY EVER!_ My thought was drowning out everything, but I somehow still managed to take down notes, until when he said my name I was pulled back from thought. "Sergeant Ganters, before we head out I want your crew to take out your victor for a test run. Give it a thorough test to make sure the hydro lines are good to go. I doubt you guys want to take another tank shower." It made me a little upset that he had to bring that up, but I gave him a little chuckle to just be polite. The other two were smiling and shaking their heads.

"Roger, sir." So much for going to the dining facility for dinner before the patrol. The LT continued, "I did manage to convince the CO to allow a late departure, so the SP time is now 2200 HRS (10:00pm) Any questions?" I slowly raised my hand and the three of them turned to me. "Yes Ganters?" I put my hand back down and cleared my throat. "Just one sir. Are you sure your parents know you stay up late at night?" The two Sergeants next to me started busting out laughing as the LT just gave me a stern stare. "I mean…if I had kids…I'd make sure they were in bed by nine. As Yeti and Quillo knows, you let kids stay up, their grumpy as hell." Yeti and Quillo were now laughing even harder and I swear I could see the LT's eye twitching. "Dismissed." he replied in a low and commanding tone. We all saluted him and left to relay the new orders to our crews. _Yup,_ I went back into thought. _Worst day ever!_

I continued walking until I got to Specialist Wilks room, my loader, and knocked. After a minuet, the door opened and I saw Private Lucas. "Oh, perfect. We'll meet up here in five. I'll be right back with Ramos." Lucas and Wilks both nodded and closed the door while I walked on to Sergeant Ramos' room. As I approached his door, it opened and he started walking out. "Oh, hey Sarge. Wanna head to dinner with me?" I sighed and shook my head. "No time. Crew meeting at Wilks' room. Lets go." I heard him let out a sigh, but he nodded. "Roger. Well, lets go then. Care to tell me how bad?" I shot him a sidewards glance and shook my head. "Bad." I simply put it, then he lowered his head and moaned. "Great. This is going to be a bad day." I turned back forward to knock on Wilks' door, then opened it after he answered. I gestured for Ramos to enter, which he did. _You have no idea._ I thought as I closed the door behind us.


	2. Ambush

**The Blade Alchemist**

Ambush

Drakes POV

The heat of the day for the most part did not leave with the sun. Even though it was now the middle of the night, it was still hot. And if you think that was bad enough, try going through it in a 70 ton metal hot-box. The tanks did have a 'form' of air conditioning, but that only consisted of cooled air that blew directly on the sights and computers to keep them from over-heating. After spending a few hours test driving my victor and testing out the replaced hydro lines, it was then that we noticed that the air system for the computers wasn't blowing. I placed my face in my hand and moaned.

 _Great! Fix one problem, we find another._ We took a quick detour to the mechanics bay to have it checked out. As it turned out, when the hydro line blew during our last mission, the sudden lose of pressure caused the motor in the cooling unit to seize and burn up the control circuits. "Sorry Sergeant, but we don't have a replacement at the moment. We'll put in an order for one in the morning. Till then, you'll just have to make due without it. Just run the air cleaning system tonight and it'll help keep the comps cool enough for tonight." the head mechanic stated and I simply face palmed. "Alright. Thanks." We mounted back on our tank and drove back to the platoon line to ready up for mission start.

Once we returned, we parked at the front of the column, being our tank was the lead victor for tonight. I sent Sergeant Ramos to alert the LT as to our new-found problem. I pulled back my right sleeve to look at my watch. _2135 huh? Got enough time to burn a quick one._ I pushed the sleeve back and opened the Velcro pocket flap on my right shoulder were I keep my cigarettes. I pulled out the pack and as luck would have it, I dropped my lighter and saw it shatter on the ground. "Shit!" I grumbled. As I stated before, worst day ever. I heard the distinctive flick of a zippo lighter right behind me and I turned to see PFC Lucas sitting on the tanks' front slope with a lit lighter offering a light.

"Thanks bro." I told him as I accepted the lighter. "No prob, Sarge". I've had many soldiers under me in my 9 years of service, but none of them were as close as me and Lucas were. I could never figure it out. We were just so in tune with each other that is was just freaky. We always knew exactly what the other was thinking or planning. I gave him back the lighter and offered him a smoke, which he took.

"Thanks Sarge" he said lighting his cigarette. "No prob, bro" We sat there enjoying our smokes looking at the stars and listening to the quiet of the night. I heard Lucas sigh beside me and speak. "Two back-to-back missions huh? This is going to be a long haul. I hope the patch job on the hydros holds up. I'd rather not spend the next 24 hours soaked in FRH." A smile spread across my face. "I didn't like it either but, lets face it." Lucas then turned his head towards me, a brow raised in curiosity.

I looked at him, "It was about time you got a shower. I don't know what smells worse, you, or tank fuel." Lucas frowned, his eye twitching, he turned around and grabbed his CVC (tank helmet) and hit me lightly on the head with it. "You can be an ass sometimes, you know?" We both then started laughing to each other until it was broke up by the LT yelling "MOUNT UP!".

We both put out the cigarettes and climbed into our hatches. I slipped on my CVC and got comm checks with the crew. "All crew members check in" I called into the mic.

"Driver ready, vehicle running."

"Loader ready, AP loaded."

"Gunner ready, AP selected."

"TC ready."

I called over the radio to my LT, "Red 1, this is Red 2. All crew members ready, REDCON 1"

After a few seconds the next tank called over and stated he was ready as well. After a few mins the LT called back, "Roger, I copy all victors ready. SP time now, time 2201." With that, all our vehicles began moving at a steady speed out the gate and onto the Iraq highway. My tank was in the lead, followed by the LT, then the Platoon Sarge, then my counterpart. It was already hot as hell inside the tank, and we only just left. _Yup, this is going to be a looooooooonnnnng night._

 **4 Hours Later**

Lucas's POV

"How ya doing down there bro?" I heard Sergeant Ganters call over the intercom. "All good, but I could really use a break from all this heat." I stated as I wiped sweat from my forehead. I could hear Sarge laughing in the headset, "You and me both bro, you and me both." I started laughing too, "Trying my hardest not to fall asleep. Damn tank keeps trying to rock me asleep and staring into a periscope is not helping the case." And I wasn't joking. You try driving in the middle of the night for over 4 hours looking into an 8in x 2in window to see where your going and the rocking of the vehicle going over little bumps in the road and stay awake. Not easy. "You'll be ok bro. When we get back, you and the loader will switch out. Were only gonna be"

 **CLANG!**

Sergeant Ganters voice was cut off by a very loud noise coupled with a very violent jolt in the tank. All of the sudden, the tank starts turning hard left on its own. I tried to turn it right, but it just kept going. Whatever hit us, it just broke the left side track. "CONTACT LEFT! CONTACT LEFT!" Ganters yelled over the radio. "Copy, Contact Left, tanks in the open, fire and adjust, over." the LT returned. "Sarge, our left track is blow off, we cant move!" I yelled.

Ganter's POV

 **CLANG!**

I was cut off from talking to Lucas and I could feel the sudden jolt the tank made as it immediately threw itself to the left. That's when I saw them. At least 5-7 enemy tanks shooting at us from our left side. And they were CLOSE! I keyed the radio, "CONTACT LEFT! CONTACT LEFT!" Within 2 seconds I heard the LT come over the radio, "Copy, Contact Left, Tanks in the open, fire and adjust, over." "Sarge, our left track is blow off, we cant move!" Lucas yelled. _So that_ _'_ _s why the tank started going left._ "Roger! Gunner, AP, Tank, 500 meters, FIRE!" The gunner replied, "ON THE WAY!" and a split second later the tank main cannon fired resulting in a very very loud…BOOM! I watched the round sail towards the enemy and smiled as it struck the enemy tank. Not even a half second later, I saw a flash of flames erupt from the sides of the enemy tanks' turret, then a bright flash as the it's ammunition exploded, causing its turret to fly off its body. "TARGET! Next target left 10 degrees, AP, tank," I watched as Wilks maneuvered the large round in his hands and shove it into the cannon breach. "LOADED AND CLEAR!" he yelled. "FIRE!" "ON THE WAY!" Once again, the cannon erupts with a loud…BOOM!, and once again the round sailed to the target and take that one out too. I then opened my hatch and climbed up to my 50. caliber machine gun. I pulled back on the charging handle, letting it ram back forward. "Caliber 50.!" I yelled as I opened fire at our adversaries. Granted, even a 50. caliber isn't going to do shit to a tank, but it is enough if you could hit their sights. Destroying the sights would effectively blind them, rendering them unable to accurately hit their target.

 **CLANG!**

A sudden, and very bright flash of light on the front of the turret flash blinded me, so I quickly climbed down, fearing I had been hit myself. "WERE HIT! MAIN GUN DESTROYED!" Ramos yelled. I started rubbing my eyes to try and restore my sight when it suddenly occurred to me that something was wrong. That one came from somewhere else. "TANK FRONT!" Lucas yelled. I look out my periscopes and I see them. At least a dozen more tanks charging at us from our front side. 'TANKS FRONT! TANKS FRONT!" I yelled into the radio. "Roger, copy tanks front. I saw you take a hit, whats the damage?!" LT replied. I take a quick second to properly assess the damage. "THIS IS RED 2, WE ARE A MOBILITY AND FIREPOWER KILL! ALL CREW ACCOUNTED FOR AND ALIVE!" I answered. _A bad day indeed for us to run into this mess. How the hell are we gonna get out of this._

 **PING!**

Hit yet again. I yell to my crew, "DAMAGE!?" Ramos then looks to me, "None, it was a ricochet!"

"Red 2, Red 2 this is Red 1, QRF en route with recovery support. Do what you can from there, we'll draw their fire off of you! Break! Charlie Niner Six, Red 1, ETA till arrival?" There was a long silence.

"Red 1, Charlie Niner Six, ETA 10..."

 **CLANG!**

All of the sudden, alarms on my vehicle stats information screen were lighting up like a damn Christmas tree. "ENGINE FIRE SARGE!" Lucas said. My screen was showing the same thing and I could actually see the fire out my rear periscopes. "ROGER, HIT THE HALON BOTTLES!" A few seconds later we all heard a loud popping sound and I watched as the fire started to die down from the halon but then start to really grow in intensity. _Oh shit,_ _the fuel cells must have ruptured!_ _NOT GOOD!_ "IT DIDNT WORK, HIT THE LAST SHOT BOTTLE!" Another loud pop. But the fire just got bigger. _Looks like we have no choice._ "PREPARE TO DITCH!"

 **CLANG!**

 **BOOM!**

That one REALLY shook the tank, and me cause my ears were ringing and my vision was blurred for a second. "AMMO FIRE! AMMO FIRE!" I look over and I could see the fire heating up the rounds. It was only a matter of seconds. "DITCH! DITCH! DITCH!" I keyed the radio to the LT, "THIS IS RED 2, WE HAVE AN AMMUNITION FIRE! ABANDONING VEHICLE! ABANDO…...


	3. Crossing the Gate

**The Blade Alchemist**

Crossing the Gate

Drake's POV

 _What happened? What, what the hell, just...happened?_ I tried to open my eyes but for some reason I just didn't have the strength to do so. _What, what, I was, I cant think of what, what…_

 **HEH HEH HEH…**

 _Laughter? What is….going on._ I finally found the strength to open my eyes. But….all I could see was white. _Wha?_ I managed to sit up, with a throbbing headache. I rubbed my temples with my index fingers to try and sooth the pain. That's when reality started to come back to me. _Where, where am I? How did I get here?_ Even more reality came back. _Wait. I've seen this…..before. Haven't I?_

"Hello." _I must have seen this before._ "Anyone there? Can anyone hear me?" _I have seen this before, but where?_

Memories started to come back to me. _I was...fighting. I..no, we were attacked. By….enemy tanks? Yes that's it, I remember now! We were being attacked by enemy tank_ _s_ _and..and..we were hit? Yeah, we got hit and then...a fire? Yes! A fire broke out and….we tried to leave. And then...then…then what? I remember the fire and then...nothing._

" **Hello there."**

I gasped. "That…...voice! I know that voice!" I jumped up on my feet and turned around, and there it was. The 'door'! Exactly like my dreams. Every detail, every little word. Exactly the same. _Am I in another dream?_

" **You have finally arrived young warrior."**

Once again, I gasped. I slowly brought my eyes down the 'door' for what seemed like an eternity. That is until finally they rested on him. The being from my dreams. _No, wait. It is a dream. I'm just in another dream. But, something seem_ _s_ _different. It seem_ _s_ _like, I c_ _an_ _actually think better._ I decided to grasp this chance and learn a few things and ask some questions from that…...thing!

"Who are you?" I asked the 'being'. It was there, that freakish smile. It was there. But after I asked him the question, the smile turned into a makeshift frown. **"** **Who am I?"** I looked at him and nodded.

 **One name you might have for me is "The World". Or you might call me "The Universe". Or perhaps "God". Or perhaps "Truth". I am All, and I am One** _ **.**_ **So of course, this also means that I am you."** He finished that last sentence pointing at me. At this point, I was beginning to realize that his 'smile' was the least of my concerns. I managed to gather the nerve to proceed and ask him more. "You say that you are ME? I don't understand. Explain this to me." The….."Truth"…then returned to 'smiling' at me.

" **I have no need to explain anything to you. You will come to discover the answers you seek on your own. Your time in that world is over. And now, it is time you moved on. To the your next world.**

At that, the door opened, just like in my dream. I couldn't move. Fear, I couldn't move cause of the fear of that door. Then, they came. The hands. I wanted to run but fear took me. After all that I have been through in my life, all the death I've seen, nothing compared to the fear I was feeling now. _MOVE! MOVE DAMN IT!_ I yelled to myself. But,I couldn't. The hands grabbed me, and it was only when they did that I finally tried to run. But it was too late. They had a firm hold on me and had already pulled me to the gate. Just like the dream, I turned and saw it. THAT SMILE!

The doors closed, and I could see….EVERYTHING! Knowledge, pure knowledge. I didn't know what 'knowledge' I was seeing but it hurt. It hurt so bad, my head. _What is this!? What is all this? What am I being taught?_ I couldn't take it, so mush knowledge. My head was hurting so bad. It felt like it was going to explode! I pressed my hands to me head, trying to stop the pain. The pain! Then, a new pain hit me. I looked to where I was feeling it from…..I saw them, tiny black beings. They were pulling on my legs, pulling on them so hard. Suddenly, my legs both came off. _MY LEGS! AHHHHH! MY LEGS! NOOOO! AHHHH!_ The pain was too much. Then something stopped in front of me. One of those black hands.

I looked at it, them it charged at me. But I couldn't stop it cause the other hands were still holding me. The hand went inside my head, and I could feel it. I could feel it inside of my head! I felt I grab onto something inside and start to pull. Now my head was REALLY hurting. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I screamed out as loud as possible. It hurt so much. But….then….it immediately stopped. The pain just outright….stopped. I saw the hand pull from my head and I could see something glowing inside of its grasp. "What?! What, what just happened to me!?" It was weird, even the pain from the knowledge that was still pouring into my head had stopped. "What is happening?" everything continued. "What is happening?!" More, more, more, more and more knowledge kept going into my brain. 'WHAT IS HAPPENING!?" And then, I was pulled into a white….void.

Winry POV

"Winry. Winry!" I head granny calling from the living room. I was busy working a drill trying to do the final touch up on a customers arm. The guy was supposed to be here this afternoon and, I was a little behind because of the cold I was recovering from. "Yes granny?" I yelled back. I heard small footsteps and I turned around to find my grandma standing in the doorway.

"Winry, you know what day it is right?" I turned back to the drill to knock out the last little piece on the forearm cover. ""Sorry granny, but I've been busy and getting over that cold that I really don't know what day it is. What day is it?" Silence. I stopped the drill a moment and turned back to her. "Granny?" She looked at me with sad eyes on the verge of tears.

"Its that day Winry. The anniversary." I stopped to think about it a sec. _Anniversary? Anniversary of wha….Oh…._ I looked down and almost broke into tears myself. "Sorry granny. I almost forgot." There was silence for a few minuets until she spoke again. "Winry, I'll finish this up here. You go and visit them. Tell them I said hello." I just sat there unable to comprehend what I had done. _How could I forget?_

I went up to my room to change into something besides oil stained work clothes. Once done, I left the house and began walking down the road deep in thought. _I wonder how Ed and Al are doing. I haven't heard from them in almost a year. I know that Ed is always_ _stubborn_ _, but you would think that at least Al would call or send a letter, or something. I hope they haven't gotten into any trouble. My_ thought was broken when I reached where I was going to. I slowly pushed the gate open and walked to the familiar pair of tombstones sitting, side-by-side.

"Hey mom, hey dad. I'm sorry that I wasn't here earlier, but that cold hit me and caused me to forget a few things. One being the most important. I'm, sorry." I looked down at the ground for a minuet then looked back at the graves. "Granny said to say hi. She misses you guys, as much as I do. And so does Den. I remember when you got her for me as a present that one year." Once again, I looked down at the ground. Moments pass before I look back up. "I really miss those days mom and dad. I miss them a lot. I'm sorry but I have to go. I have orders to fill out, but I'll make granny come up here to see you. I love you, mom, dad."

Tears came to my eyes and I wiped them off with the sleeve of my shirt. I left a bouquet of flowers on their graves and turn to walk home. I face the front gate and as I'm walking I see an odd shape lying on the ground. As I walk closer I see that its a human being. "Um, sir..or ma'am, I really don't think that's a good spot to sleep. Do you need so help?" As I walk closer I see that its a man, but something is off about him. "Sir?" When I get closer I see he's wearing some very odd clothing. _What in the world is this guy wearing? It look_ _s_ _like some kind of military uniform of sorts. And_ _is_ _that a….Helmet?_

I roll him over notice immediately that his legs are gone and bleeding profusely. "SIR! ARE YOU OK?!" _This is bad! I need to get him back to the house quickly or he's going to die!_ I knelt down beside him and began to pick him up. "SIR! I'M TAKING YOU BACK TO MY PLACE TO BANDAGE THOSE WOUNDS! IT'S GOING TO BE OKAY!

I picked him up and rested him on my shoulders. I them began to carry him back to the house to close the wounds on his legs, or…..what was left of them. It was when we got halfway back that I felt him stir on my back and I thought I heard him say something. "Sir? Are you okay? We'll be home shortly, just please, hang in there!" After that, that's when I heard him again.

"I'm….sorry….Lu…...cas…."

 **Ok everyone. Chapter 3 is done. For those of you who prefer long chapters I do apologize. I have the whole story in my head but I have ADD so it makes it hard**

 **to write a lot in one go. Just so everyone knows, I will be breaking this story into at least 2 parts. Reason being is that with how detailed I plan to make this story, it will be a LOT of chapters. So please, bear with me. And I'm sure you've noticed the**

 **Ed x Wn and OC x OC. Who is the other OC? Well, I'll let sit on your minds until the person shows up, lol (evil cackle) Once again, please be patiant with the short chapters. Thank you.**


	4. The Strange Man

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Strange Man

Pinako POV

"There, finished." I stand up from the table looking at the completed arm for Winrys' customer. _The customer should be here soon. I guess I'll get her work tools ready till she gets back._ I look at the clock and notice that it's much later than I thought. "Hmm, where could that customer be?" I begin to hear the phone ringing in the living room. _I'm gonna guess that's the customer._ I walk to the phone and pick up the receiver. "Rockbell Automail." I answered.

"Yes, this is Mr. Welks, I had an appointment a little while ago. I'm sorry I didn't call sooner but I had some important family matters to take care of. I need to reschedule the appointment." I pulled out the note pad from the desk the phone rested on and looked at the calender. "Yes Mr. Welks. It will be no problem. Winry has an opening on Monday next week. Will that be okay for you?" I heard him rustling through papers and write something down. "Yes Ms. Pinako, Next Monday will be perfect. I'll see you then. Bye." 'Click' "Well that settles that. Guess I'll go make some tea.

"GRANNY!"

Winry POV

My shoulders were really starting to ache from the mans immense weight, even without his legs he still weighed a ton. I look up and finally see the house and Den running towards us barking. "Hush, Den. It's okay, I'm fine. Go back inside." I continued to slowly walk to the porch and called for some help. "GRANNY! Its ok sir, everything is going to be ok. GRANNY!" I heard the front door rip open and I look to see grandma running over. "His legs are gone and he's lost a lot of blood." I see my grandma gasp at the sight. "We need to get him on the table and close those wounds now! Hurry!"

I had already set him down on the porch and I didn't have the strength left to pick him back up. So I grabbed him under his arms and slid him across the floor to the operating room. With the last bit of strength I did have, I managed to place him on the operating table. "Winry, get some IVs in him and hurry before he goes into shock!" I nod and run to the medicine drawers to grab the IV equipment. "And grab those towels over there as well! We need to put pressure on one leg while we work on the other!"

"Yes granny!" I said grabbing the towels on top of the cabinet the IVs were in. I run back over and start the IV in his arm then begin pressing the towels on his left leg. "GET ANOTHER IV! HE'S GOING INTO SHOCK!"

Edward POV

"Aw man. This hurts, and Winry is gonna kill me thinking I somehow broke it." I was trying to sooth the pain I was feeling in the port that my arm was connected to. It just started hurting the other day for some reason. Me and Al were on our way to Resembool to have Winry take a look at it and find out why it was hurting. "I told you to call her before we left to explain what happened Ed. You brought this on yourself." Al said looking at me with what I could guess from his voice was a worried look. "Yeah I know. But we need to get on to Liore as fast as possible. We finally get a lead on the Philosophers Stone and now of all times my arm decides to act up." I turn and look out the train window and watch the scenery pass by. "Well we should be at the station in a couple of hours. Why don't you to get some sleep brother? I'll wake you when we get there."

I nod and lay down on the bench and try to go to sleep. It was almost impossible with the wooden seats and the dull pain in my port. Al noticed and decided to try to use conversation to help me forget about the pain. "Brother, its been almost a year since we last saw Winry and granny. I wonder how they've been while we were gone." I turn to him and saw he was looking down with what seemed like depression. "I know Al. It has been a long while. But knowing Winry and granny like we do, I don't see that anything would have changed. Winry will still be the annoying gear head she's always been."

With that, I could see Als face light up and I could swear he was smiling. "Yeah, I think so too brother. Your right, nothing has changed. She will be the same Winry we always knew. But...you still should have called her about your arm. Now all your gonna find is that wrench of hers in your face." I twitched at those words and placed my flesh arm on my forehead. _Damnit Al, why did you have to remind me?_ I could practically see and feel that damned wrench now. "Shut up, AL." I heard him start snickering to himself trying to hold back his laughter. I just glared at him, "It's NOT funny Al! That shit hurts!"

Al stopped laughing and looked at me with concerned eyes. "You know she does it because she cares. She cares so much about us, brother. And we put her through a lot with not calling or visiting and just showing up out of nowhere all beat up. She's always there for us." I look back out the train window reflecting on what AL said. "Yeah….she is."

Winry POV

We fought the through the excessive bleeding for almost 3 hours but we finally managed to close the wounds and stop the bleeding. I plopped down into the chair next to the bed we put the strange man in. I was sooo tired. "He's going to be fine, but who knows when he'll wake up. He lost a great deal of blood. He just needs to rest now. I'll go make us some tea and start on dinner. You rest up a bit, Winry"

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Thanks granny, but I need to call Mr. Welks and apologize for missing his appointment." I stand up and stretch out my arms. "No need, he called here shortly before you got back and had to cancel it himself. I set him up for next Monday. Will that be ok, dear?"

I tried to think about it but I was just so tired I couldn't think straight. "Yeah it should be. I'll worry about it tomorrow. I'm gonna go shower and change." Before I left, I looked at the strange...vest...of some sorts sitting on the floor near the door. _What is that thing? Whatever it is, that is what caused the man to weigh so much. What is it for?_ I pulled myself back from thought and walked to my room. I pulled out a change of clothes and walked to the bathroom. I got undressed and turned on the water waiting for the water to heat up.

I turned to the mirror and see blood flakes scattered across my face and in my hair. _What happened to that man? Who would do such a thing? He couldn't have lost his legs in a battle. There's no battlegrounds anywhere near here. And with how bad he was bleeding, it had happened within minuets of me finding him. What happened?_ I shake my head bringing me back out of thought again. Sigh, "I'll worry about it later. But for now, shoooowwwwwerrrrrrr! HOT!"

Pinako POV

I walked into the kitchen and filled the teapot full of water from the sink and set it on the stove. _That poor man, his legs missing and left to die in the middle of nowhere. I hope he wakes up soon. It's sad that someone has to go through all that. And poor Winry, carrying that man all the way from the_ _cemetery._ _She is just so strong hearted._ I was pulled from thought by the whistling from the teapot. I turned the burner off and filled a cup with it. It was at this time that Den started barking out front. Sigh, "What now?" I walk over to the front door and opened it to by met with very familiar faces.

"Well, well. Welcome home boys."


	5. Maintenance

**The Blade Alchemist**

Maintenance

Edward POV

We walked up to the all too familiar house on the hill, and I was trying to be alert as possible. _I'm waiting for you Winry. Your not gonna hit me this time._ As we approached the porch, Den started barking at us. "Hey, Den. How you been girl?" Al called to the dog. The dog walked up to me and I ruffled the fur between her ears with my flesh hand. "Hey girl, long time no see, huh?" I heard the door open and I immediately got into a ready stance, waiting for that damned wrench. We looked to the door to see granny Pinako standing there. "Well, well. Welcome home boys." We started walking towards the door and up the porch stairs. "Hi granny! It''s good to see you again" Al said with nothing but happiness in his voice.

"Hello Al. It's good to see you too. And you too Ed. I see you haven't gotten any taller." I twitched and balled my fists in anger. "WHO DID YOU SAY WAS SMALL LIKE A GRAIN OF RICE AND DOESN'T SHOW UP IN YOUR EYES?!"

"Your just as short as your temper!"

"YOUR JUST A MINI HAG!"

"Microscopic Flea!"

"DWARF SIZED RUNT!"

 **PING! Thump!**

"EDWARD ELRIC YOU JERK! WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR AUTOMAIL THIS TIME!?"

Al POV

Sigh, _Here they go again. I wish brother would learn to control his anger._ A slight glint caught my eye and I looked just in time to catch sight of a flying object sailing straight for brothers head.

 **PING! Thump!**

Next thing I knew, brother was down on the ground with blood seeping out of a cut on his forehead. I look to see where it came from and there stood Winry at the top of the stairs. "EDWARD ELRIC YOU JERK! WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR AUTOMAIL THIS TIME!?" She looked at me and I held my hands up in surrender. "He didn't do anything to it! It's not his fault! I promise! Please don't hit hit me!" She had another wrench in her hand, ready to throw. "When does he NOT break it?! When is it NOT his fault?!" She lowered the wrench and started walking down the stairs.

Granny then spoke up, "Well, I'll go get dinner started and make some more tea. You can look at his automail later on Winry. Can you give me a hand?" Winry got to the bottom of the stairs and went to the kitchen. "Sure granny" "HEY! So is everyone just gonna leave the guy who just had his head caved in laying on the floor!?" I sighed and began to pick brother off the floor. "I told you that you should have called." Brother just glared at me with daggers for eyes, "I said shut it, AL"

Edward POV

We were all sitting at the table waiting for dinner to be served when granny turned to me. "So Ed, how has your guy's trip been going?" I turned back to her while rubbing my sore arm port. "It's going ok. We recently got done with a mission and were heading to Liore. That is, until my arm acted up." Winry then glares at me and I twitch in fear. "So what did you do to your arm Ed?" I hold up my hands in surrender trying to keep her calm. "I didn't do anything. The other day I heard a pop noise in the port and since then it's been hurting me. I was only walking down the street. There was no fight or anything." Granny looked at me with her thinking face. "Sounds to me like a nerve may have pulled from a connector. It should be a simple fix. You can work on it after dinner Winry." Winry looked at my arm then to granny. "Ok. I'll get to it after I check on our patient."

I looked at Winry with an arched brow. "You have a patient right now? What happened?" Winry turned back to me and began explaining. "I found him just lying at the cemetery front gate while I was visiting mom and dad. But he wasn't there a few minuets ago. It's like he just appeared out of nowhere. Both his legs were gone and he was bleeding real badly. I carried him back here and me and granny closed off his wounds." Granny then spoke up, "That man is very lucky. If he was out there for even a couple more minuets, it would have been too late. He's upstairs unconscious from the blood loss. And if the odd circumstances of his injuries were not enough, he was also dressed in some very odd clothes too."

"Odd clothes?" I asked. Both nodded at me. Winry spoke up, "I'll explain it while I work on your arm. But I'm gonna go check on him. Go ahead and wait in the living room Ed. I'll grab the tools on the way back." I nod at her and stand up. I grabbed my plate and return it to the sink to be washed. _Odd clothing huh? I wonder what kind of odd clothing._ I walk over to the couch and sit down, waiting for Winry to start on my arm.

Winry POV

I walk up the stairs and into the mans room. When I get to his beside I place my hand on his forehead to check for a fever. _Temperatures normal. Now to check the bandages._ I pull the bed covers off his stumps and see they have been slightly bled through. _Yup, gonna need to change these._ I begin taking the old bandages off and I immediately notice something odd. His stumps were healing faster than most others. _Wow this guy heals fast. I'm impressed._ I begin placing new bandages on the stumps and check his temperature again. _Yup, still good. I hope he wakes up soon._ I leave the room, closing the door behind me and head to the workshop for my tools.

I get to the workshop and start grabbing the tools I need. _Screwdriver, pliers, spare cables, and a socket set. That should do. Now to fix the idiots arm._

Edward POV

I heard Winrys workshop door close and I turn to see her come around the corner. "Sigh, Ok lets see what you've done now." Ok, now I'm really getting annoyed. "I told you, I. DIDN'T. DO. IT!"

 **THUMP!**

Stars were flying in front of me after I felt another wrench (that she somehow pulled out of thin air) crash down on my head. "OW! Damn it Winry! Enough with the damn wrenches!" She sighed. "Just shut up lay back so I can get to work." I did so and cringed in pain as she disconnected the nerves and removed the arm. "Ok, lets here." She began looking closely at the port and I noticed that she was only a couple inches from my face. I blushed and turned the other way before she could see. "So, um, what were you saying about that other patient of yours?"

Winry POV

"So, um, what were you saying about that other patient of yours?" I looked up from inspecting the port and noticed my face was only an inch from his, causing me to blush. I turned around to grab a tool (and hide my blush) and answered him. "Going from where we left off, he was wearing some very odd clothes that looked like some kind of uniform or such. He was also wearing what looked like a helmet and some weird vest thing that weighs a lot. Anyway, I carried him to the operating room and me and granny tried to close the wounds where his legs used to be." Ed was looking at me with a puzzled look and an arched eye brow. "So, let me see if I have this straight. You found him bleeding to death in the cemetery, his legs missing. You carried him back here and you guys closed his wounds and saved him?" I nodded. "To put it simple, yes thats basically it." Ed looked away and it looked like he was thinking hard about something. "Hey Al" "Annnd..connection." I said as I turned the wrench, connecting his nerves in the arm. Ed jumped in his seat. "AHHHHHH! Damn it Winry! Warn me next time! Hey Al!"

Al walked out of the kitchen from helping granny with cleaning up. "What is it brother?" Ed turned from me and met Als gaze. "Hey Al, were gonna stay here a few days and see if that guy wakes up. I wanna ask him a few things." Al tilted his head. "What are you thinking brother?" Ed still had that deep in thought look on his face, then he looked towards the window. "Just a hunch, AL. Just a hunch."


	6. Waking Up

**The Blade Alchemist**

Waking Up

Winry POV

"Winry! Time to get up! Breakfast is ready!" I could vaguely hear grandma yelling. I sat up in my bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. _Morning already? And the sun is already out. I must have been really tired from yesterday._ "Ok grandma. I'm coming." I got out of bed and walked to my closet to get my clothes for the day. I passed by my mirror and noticed my hair was a mess. _Wow. I really need to brush it before I go downstairs._ I grabbed the brush sitting just below the mirror and began to brush out my hair. After about 2 mins of brushing, I proceeded to get dressed.

I walked out of my room and saw Al standing there. _Oh yeah, that's right. Ed and Al came home yesterday._ "Morning Al." He looked at me and nodded. "Morning Winry. Granny said breakfast is ready." I nodded back and started walking down the hall. "Thank you. Tell granny I'm checking on our patient and I'll be right there." "Ok" he said and he walked down the stairs. I turned the knob and opened the door to the mans room.

I walked over to the mans bed checked his temperature again. _Still no fever, thank goodness._ I pulled the covers away from his stumps and checked the bandages. _No blood. That's good too. He seems to be doing pretty good considering his current state._ As I pull the covers back over his stumps I heard a noise.

Drake POV

 _Where, where am I? Whats going on? What is happening?_ It felt like my head was spinning, but…..I couldn't 'feel' it. _What happened to me?_ I gathered the strength to try and open my eyes, succeeding to only manage a little slit. The room was so bright, considering that my eyes were not used to light at the moment. I look over to my right and I see a figure over me. I blink my eyes a couple of times to try and clear my vision, but the light was making it hard. After a few seconds, my vision cleared up enough for me to be able to make out that the form was a human being standing over my lower body.

I moaned out, trying to speak but my voice choked with my very dry throat. That's when she looked up and then at me. She quickly sat down next to my head and I could hear her voice. "Sir…...you…...ay" Her words were drowned out by my being dazed. "Sir, ar...u….kay?" I blinked my eyes again and tried to clear my head. This time I could hear her somewhat clearly. "Sir, can you hear me?" Yes, I wanted to say but my voice was still choked. _Why do_ _es it seem like I'm_ _so week?_ _But I don't 'feel' weak._ _What the hell happened to me? Where am I?_

I managed a nod and then she smiled at me. "GRANNY! GET SOME WATER UP HERE QUICK!" The rolling in my head just got a little worse. But this confused me. If my head is rolling around like this, I should be having a headache or something like that but…..nothing. I don't feel anything. I heard the pitter-patter of small footsteps getting closer. I turned to see very small elderly woman standing next to me. _Am I in a bed or something? And their voices. They sound like their American. Am I back home?_

The young girl placed her hand behind my head while the elder woman held a glass of, what looked like water, up to my lips. I slowly took a sip of the liquid that did turn out to be water. The water going down my throat seemed to help cause I found that I could somewhat speak now. "Where….where….." was all I could manage. "Your in bed. You've lost a lot of blood, so your body is really weak right now. Just rest." It was the young girl talking. I looked at her and tried to speak again.

"More...more….please.." I said looking at the glass of water in the elder woman's hand. She nodded at me and placed the glass to my lips again. I took small sips again and continued until the glass was empty. "Thank..you." The young girl smiled at me. "Your welcome. May I ask what your name is sir?"

 _My name? What was it?_ I layed there thinking a minuet and finally came to my senses. "Drake…...Drake...Ganters..." _Why is it so hard to speak? She said I had lost a lot of blood, so just what happened to me._ The elder lady spoke up, "Nice to meet you Mr. Ganters. I'm Pinako Rockbell, and this is my granddaughter Winry." I nodded at them and that's when I noticed two more people standing in the doorway on the small room.

One seemed to be around the same age as the young girl, Winry wasn't it? And a really tall man in what appeared to be a suit of armor. I looked at them. "And...you are.." They both walked up to the bed. "I'm Edward Elric" The guy in the armor then bowed to me, "And I'm his younger brother Alphonse." _Younger brother? How could he be younger than him but be so damn tall?_ "Drake." I said as I raised my hand to them. They both carefully shook my hand, but when I shook the 'older' brother's hand, I saw that his hand was metal.

He saw me staring at his hand then returned it to his side. "Metal?" I stated, quite confused. He held his hand up to show me. "Yeah, it's automail. I lost my arm in an….accident." My confused state just kept getting worse. "Automail? What is that?" Ed, Al, and Winry just looked at each other for a minuet, then looked at me with a puzzled look on their faces. "You've never heard of Automail? Where are you from?" Ed asked me. Winry then glared right at him. "ED! Be nice!"

 _Okay, now I've had it._ "Please…." They all looked at me. "Please….just please tell me where I am, and what the hell is going on, please!" They stared at each other for a minuet then at Pinako. She gave them a nod and Winry turned back to me. "Okay, but….your gonna be shocked so just take it easy, okay?" I nodded at her and she began to lift me up to a sitting position. She pushed the covers off where my legs were and I gasped. Where there was supposed to be a pair of legs was….nothing!

I just sat there...staring. _My….legs…..their….gone! My legs...their gone! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME!?_ I pressed my hands to the sides of me head and grabbed my hair between my fingers. "What...what...what the...hell! Where? Where are my legs!? What happened to me!?" Fear, total fear completely took me. Winry looked down at the floor and began to explain. "I..found you...like this. You were lying on the ground bleeding when I found you. Your legs were already gone. I picked you up and brought you back here to my house. We closed up your wounds and bandaged them."

Pinako walked forward and jumped in. "You were out cold from the blood lose for 2 days. I'm sorry, but I have to say that you are very lucky that my granddaughter found you Mr. Ganters. You almost died on the table while we were trying to patch you up." _I almost...died? What the hell did this to me?_ Winry lifted up her hand and placed it on my shoulder. I slowly turned to her and I could see nothing but sadness in her eyes.

 _Wait a minuet,_ Something wasn't right, I didn't feel anything. _I can't feel her hand on my shoulder!_ I gripped the hair in my fingers harder. _I can't feel the hair in my hands! I can't feel my hair being pulled!_

I reached over and grabbed her hand from my shoulder and held it. "I….." They all looked at me with confused stares. "I can't…." My eyes were as wide as saucers and sweat started pouring from my body. "I can't…." Winry moved her face in front of mine and looked at me with worrying eyes. "Mr. Ganters, are you….okay?" _It cant be! It just cant be!_ I looked over at the bedside table and saw a pen and notepad laying on top. I quickly let go of Winrys hand and grabbed the pen. I pushed out the ink tip and pressed it into the palm of my hand. _Nothing._ I pushed it it harder and harder while everyone just stared at me. I pushed it in so hard my hand started to bleed when it broke the skin. "What are you doing!?" Winry yelled and took the pen from me. _WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME!?_ "I...I can't…." Now everyone was looking at me with worrying eyes. "Sir!" The voice slightly broke the trance I was in. It was Pinako. "What is wrong?" I wrapped my arms around myself with my hands on my shoulders. "I….I can't….I can't feel…." Everyone's eyes grew to the size of saucers like mine. "What do you mean you can't feel?" It was Ed talking. I sat there, eyes as large as can be, my grips crushing my shoulders together. "I...I can't feel…...anything!"


	7. Explanations

**The Blade Alchemist**

Explanations

Edward POV

We left the Ganters guy in his room to rest while Winry and granny worked to finish up some automail orders. Me and Al decided to take a walk and figure out who that guy is. "Hey Al." He turned to me and asked "Your thinking about Mr. Ganters, aren't you?" I nodded and continued to walk. "I can't believe it." Al spoke again. "He's lost both his legs, and now he can't even feel anything, like me." Silence followed for a moment. "Yeah, but I think there's more to it than that." Al looked at me with a 'puzzled' look. "What do you mean brother?" I began to explain. "Think about it Al. He appears from nowhere from what Winry said. And he also lost both his legs." Al stepped in. "Yeah, but he could had just gotten into and accident or was attacked and left for dead."

"That's true, but now factor in the strange clothes he was wearing when Winry found him. The fact that he had no idea what automail was." Once again, Al stepped in. "He could be from another country. One that's not familiar with automail. And Winry described the clothing like some sort of military uniform. He could be in that countries military. And that would explain the weapon he had with him." I looked at Al puzzled. "He had a weapon? What kind of weapon?"

"Yeah, Winry showed it to me. It looked like a pistol, but I've never seen a pistol like that before." I looked down at the ground pondering at that. "And there is one more thing too." Al looked back at me. "And what is that brother?" I turned from the ground to look at AL. "The fact that his sense of feeling is gone. And I know he was not born without it. He just recently lost it because he did not know that he lost it. You saw the shock in his eyes AL. It was pure...fear. He was scared out of his mind when he discovered it." Al turned from me and stared at the ground. After a moment he stopped walking.

"Brother?" I stopped and turned back to him. "I'm worried about him. He just lost his legs, and now he can't feel anything. I know how it feels to not be able to feel anymore. After the transmutation, when we got to Winrys' house, I was completely depressed. I hate to admit it to you, but for the first few weeks…..I couldn't take it anymore." I looked on my brother with tears coming to my eyes. "There were a few times where I just wanted to end it. But, I had you and Winry. I had people who loved me and wanted me. But…." I felt tears starting to run down my cheeks and started to walk towards Al. "But, he has nobody. No one close to him to support him. To help him through all this. I'm afraid he might do something….that he'll regret." I walked up to Al and tapped my metal hand on his chest plate.

"It's ok, Al. I'm sorry you had to go through that because of me. Lets go home. We'll try to figure out what happened to him and help him through it." Al looked at me and nodded. "Right!" We pounded our fists and started running back to the house.

Drake POV

I sat there in bed, staring out the window. A plate with an untouched sandwich and a glass of milk were sitting on the table next to me. _It's over, it's all over. I lost my legs. There is a breeze blowing at me, cause I can see the hairs on my arms moving. But I can't feel it. What am I supposed to do now? I have lost everything._ I was pulled from my thoughts by the knocking on my bedroom door. "Come in." I said in a low and depressed voice. The door opened and I turned to see who it was. It was Edward and Alphonse, who then spoke up. "Afternoon sir, may we come in and speak with you?" I turned back to the window and stayed silent for a moment. "Yeah..." The guys walked in and closed the door behind them, walking over to my bed side where Ed sat down in the chair. There was a long silence.

"Sir…." Al started. "It's Drake" I corrected in a low tone. "I'm sorry. Drake, how are you doing?" At first, I didn't answer. Moments passed before I finally answered. "How do you think I'm doing? It's all gone. My legs, the ability to feel anything, my life. It's all gone." I looked at Al to see he was staring at the ground. _Why is he still wearing that armor? Inside the house to boot._ "Drake." I turned to look at Ed and wait for what he was going to say. "We want to help you. But you need to tell us everything that happened. Can you remember anything before this happened to you?"

I turned my head and looked down at the spot where my legs used to be. I nodded slowly. "You already know my name, but I am in the American military. I was a tank commander and my platoon was out on a patrol. We were suddenly ambushed by a large number of enemy tanks. We took fire and were hit multiple times. A fire broke out in the ammunition compartment. I told my crew to ditch the vehicle and I called to my platoon leader to tell him. And then…..all I saw was blackness. I opened my eyes and I was lying on the ground in some white…..room of sorts with a very large stone door with a strange 'being' sitting in front of it."

I heard Ed gasp beside me and I turned to look at him. His face was pale, and his eyes were the size of baseballs. "What?" I asked. "Brother?" Al asked. I saw Ed swallow hard and he grabbed my shoulders. He looked me right in the eyes. "You saw it? You saw the 'Truth'?" At this, AL gasped as well. "What!?" _Something's not right. How the hell does he know what that...'thing' called itself?_ "What do you mean?" I saw his hands grip tighter on my shoulders. "The 'Truth'. Did you see it? It's a white being with no eyes. A black hue surrounding him and an evil smile?!" I gasped at that. My eyes growing to the same size as his. _No way! He couldn't have seen it too! But, he just described him to me the exact same way as what I saw!_

"I don't understand Ed. Explain." "DID YOU SEE IT!?" he yelled at me. I looked into his eyes, they had mix of fear and anger in them. "Yes. It told me my time in my world was over, and it was time to start over in my next one. Then the gate opened and these black hands pulled me in. I was in this white void of sorts and all I could see was...knowledge." "It was alchemy, that was the knowledge you learned." I looked at him puzzled when he said that word. "Alche..what?" Al stepped forward, grabbed the notepad off the table and set it on the floor. He then drew an odd looking symbol with circles and lines on the floor around the notepad. "It's alchemy." he said.

Suddenly there was flash of blue light, and where the notepad used to be was now multiple paper figurines. "What the hell was that?" Ed looked back at me. "It's alchemy. It's the science of understanding matter, deconstructing it, then reconstructing it as something else." I stared at him trying to make heads or tails of what I just saw. "I'll worry about this 'alchemy' stuff later. But continuing on, all that knowledge was pouring into my head. My head felt like it was going to explode. Suddenly, I felt a horrible pain in both my legs. I looked down to see these tiny black creatures pulling on them."

Ed and Al both looked down at the floor, anger filling Eds' eyes. I continued, "My legs were pulled off by those things. Then one of the hands stopped right in front of me. It rushed at me and went inside my head." Both brothers gasped. "I felt it inside, I felt it grab something and pull. The pain was the worst I have ever felt. But suddenly, all of the pain stopped. The hand pulled back and out of my head. It was holding something small, something glowing. It disappeared and the knowledge kept coming. Then all of the sudden...everything went black. Next thing I know, I'm woke up here."

The brothers stood there looking down and silent for what seemed like hours. Ed then stood up from the chair and started to walk away, brother in tow. He opened the door and was about to walk out, then he stopped. "I'm sorry, we just need to talk alone for a bit. We'll be back shortly." I nodded to him and faced the window. I heard to door close and the footsteps disappear down the hall. _So….it's not a dream. I really am in a different world like that….'thing'….said._

 **And there is chapter 7. In case you didn't catch it in the earlier chapters, this is at the time just before Ed and Al went to Liore to settle the fake priest matter. So yes, this story takes place throughout the entire series. I hope you all are enjoying it so far.**

 **Please do rate at times to let me know how I'm doing. After all, I've never done this before, writing a story.**

 **Thank you.**


	8. What Now?

**The Blade Alchemist**

What Now?

Edward POV

Me and Al left Drakes' room and walked down the stairs to the front porch. We sat there in silence, trying to process everything we just learned. "Brother." I didn't hear him, I was too lost in thought. "Brother?" Al asked again, his voice sounding worried. I looked up at him and answered. "Yeah Al?" He turned and looked down the road. "Do you think what he said was true? Is there really a different world behind the gate you were talking about?" I lowered my head, thinking on that question. "There is really no way to be certain Al. He could be telling the truth, but then he could also be lying to cover up him performing human transmutation. He was found in a cemetery after all."

Al turned back to me. "Yeah, but we looked there ourselves and there was absolutely no evidence that any alchemy was performed. And you don't get teleported to a different place when you fail a transmutation." _That is true, but is it really possible? Is there really another world beyond the gate?_ "Al. I want your honest opinion. What do you think we should do about this?" Al turned back to the road.

"I really don't know brother. I think we should help him get back on track with his life. I think we should inquire to him about getting automail. If he was really given all that knowledge of alchemy in the gate, then that means he can use it. And you might not like this brother, but I say that he should come with us after he has healed and gotten used to the automail. What else is there for him?" I stared at the ground thinking again on what he said. He was right, I didn't like the idea of him going with us. But after all he went through at no fault of his own, he deserved as much help that could be given.

"Alright Al. Lets go talk to him and see what he thinks. But keep this in mind, I don't like the idea of taking him with us." Al turned to walk inside. "Even if he does say yes, it will be at least 2 years before he will be able to travel with us." _That is true. That will give me a lot of time to think on this matter._ "Alright. Lets go talk to him. Hey Winry." Winry walked out of the kitchen, with a towel drying her hands. "Whats up Ed?" She tossed the towel onto her shoulder. "We're gonna go talk to Drake and inquire about some automail for his legs. Can you come with us?"

"Of course Ed. Just give me a minuet and I'll be right there." She turned back to the kitchen and placed the towel near the sink and returned. All three of us proceeded up the stairs and on to Drakes' room.

Drake POV

I was sitting on the foot of the bed with my arms laying on the window sill. I stared outside at the lovely countryside. _It's nice here. It's so peaceful. Everything is undisturbed. So quiet._ I heard soft knocking on my door, so I turned back around to sit facing it. "Come in." The door opened and I saw Ed, Al, and Winry all walk in. "Evening." I greeted, trying to hide the fact of just how depressed I was. "Good evening Mr. Ganters." she called back with a smile on her face. "Please, just Drake." She nodded in understanding and all three of them stopped and stood right in front of me. Ed spoke first.

"Drake, we're all sorry about everything you went through. Trust us when we say we know exactly how you feel." I had to interrupt him there."Ed, before you say anything else, you need to explain something to me." I waited for him to acknowledge my statement. "Okay, what is it?" I looked at Winry for a minuet then added, "I'm sorry, but perhaps its not something to discuss with Winry here. No offense Winry." Ed looked at Winry a moment then turned back to me. "I'm gonna guess you want to ask about the 'truth'?" I nodded at him. "No need for Winry to leave. She already knows everything that happened to us, except for all the details about 'you know what'." I sighed then carried on. "Very well. Ed, Al, I want the truth. How do you know about that….'truth'... thing? I'm gonna go on a whim here and guess that your arm has something to do with it?"

Both brothers looked down at the floor for what seemed like eternity. Finally, Ed gave a big sigh. "Yeah. We performed a transmutation that is completely forbidden. And we both paid the price for it. I lost my left leg….." Ed choked. Al then turned towards me, took his helmet off and bent down. Empty! The suit was empty! "What the hell!? What is this!?" Al placed his 'head' back on his body. "Brother lost his leg, and I lost my whole being. Brother gave his right arm so he could pull my soul back from the gate and attach it to this armor."

The whole room was in silence. All of us were now staring at the floor. "I'm sorry. I…..I had no idea. I should not have invaded your troubled past. Forgive me." The room remained quiet for moments more till Ed spoke up. "We have to leave the day after tomorrow. I work for the military, and I'm already late on my mission. We were going to inquire to you about rigging you up with automail. Winry here is one of the best automail engineers in the country." Winry smiled at that.

"I'm sorry, but I still don't understand what automail is. What exactly is it?" Winry snatched my hand and began ranting. "What is automail!? It's only the greatest invention ever thought of! It grants you the replacement of a lost limb! Automail is truly a great work of art and must be treated as such! Sigh… The humming of the finely crafted gears! The smell of the lubricating oil! The elegant craftsmanship of the body! All put together in such a magnificent way!"

I barely caught the sound of Ed sighing. "Shut up you machine junkie." All of the sudden, out of nowhere, Winry pulls out a wrench and bashes Ed's face in with it. "ALCHEMY FREAK!"she yelled at him, staring with eyes that could cut through steel. "What the hell is your problem!?" I yelled at her. She turned towards me and gave me the stare. _Okay, now I've found the one thing I truly fear more tha_ _n_ _'truths' smile,_ _Winrys' stare!_ "What was that!?" she asked in a very stern voice. "Nothing, nothing, I was talking to Ed!" I said trying to calm her rage. "Oh ok~" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Sooo, to break it all down, automail is a prosthetic?" Ed stood up grasping his head. "Yeah pretty much. But don't get me wrong, it is well worth it. No offense, but you don't have to worry about the surgery since you can't feel anything. But the rehabilitation can take 2-4 years." I stared at him with a dropped jaw. "2-4 years!?" Ed nodded. "And I was taking into account of you doing both legs. If it was just one, then it would only be 1-2 years." I looked down at my stumps and thought about it. "What then? What will I do even after I heal and learn to walk again? I know nothing of this world. Or this, 'alchemy' stuff." Ed looked at his brother who nodded. He sighed then turned back to me.

"Me and Al have talked about it, and we've decided to take you with us once you are healed. But in the meantime, I strongly suggest you study up a bit on alchemy. You saw all that knowledge in the gate, so we know for a fact that you can perform alchemy. But you do need to learn just 'how' to use it. I can give you a short class on it to get you started tomorrow. Other than that, you'll have to get the more advanced stuff from books." I gave him a nod.

"Thank you, I greatly appreciate it." I turn to Winry "But there is a problem. I have no money at all to pay for this. So unfor.." I was stopped mid-sentence by Winry placing her hand over my mouth. "Don't worry about it. You need those legs, especially after everything you've been through. I'll give you this one on the house." She was smiling, but that quickly died a second later when it turned into that glare. She was also holding yet another wrench, ready to drop on my head with force. "But if you hurt it, I'll kill you! You understand!?" I cowered back in fear. "Yes maam!" She lowered the wrench and the smile returned. "Good." Ed let out a sigh.

"Well that settles it. We'll start the lessons after breakfast. Is he able to get out of bed Winry?" She moved over and looked under my bandages for a moment. "Yeah, he can go, but he needs make sure he doesn't stress himself." Ed nodded in acknowledgment and turned to me. "Well, I'll see you in the morning Jake." My eye twitched at that. "It's Drake! D. R. A. K. E. DRAKE!" Ed held his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! Sorry!" With that, they all left they room. After the door closed, I returned to looking out the window at the open fields. Sigh…. _Maybe my life isn't over after all…._


	9. My Weapon

**The Blade Alchemist**

My Weapon

Drake POV

White….nothing but white. _Am I dreaming?_ I sit up the best way I could, (having no legs) and looked around. _What the hell? This place again?_ I turned around, and there it was again. The stone door. I look down and 'he' was there too, 'Truth'. "What is this? Why am I back here?" 'He' just sat there with that evil smile on his face.

" **I thought that I should let you know what you got in return for your sense of touch. After all, it's only fair."** _So it was true! I really don't have the ability to feel anything!_ "Oh really? Then how bout you enlighten me." I said, crossing my arms. His smile just got worse. 'He' just sat there for a while, then spoke. **"I would watch how you decide to speak to me. I don't approve of your lack manners."** _Lack of manners? You do all this shit to me, and you have the nerve to talk about MY manners?_ I decided to bite my lip. "I apologize. Please, explain to me why you took both my legs and one of my senses." Silence. We both just stared at each other for minuets. Then, 'he' pointed at me.

" **You died in that explosion. You should be** **dead and** **gone."** I shivered at that. **"** **But I brought you here for a second chance. Your left leg was the toll for that second chance. And then there was all that knowledge that was bestowed upon you. And for that, your right leg was sacrificed."** _Okay, that explains the legs. But what about my sense of touch?_ 'He' remained silent. "And? What about my sense you took?" Silence. Finally he spoke.

" **But of course, your sense of touch was taken from your as well. And in return, most of your mental abilities have been improved."** _Improved? What_ _the hell_ _does that mean?_ "I don't understand. What exactly do you mean by that? Improved how?" We both sat there staring at each other. _What is 'he' hiding? There is more to this than what he is about to tell me, if he even tells me_ _anything_ _at all._ _I know it!_

" **Lets just say your mental 'processing' speed. How fast your reflexes are. The rate at which you can learn. Your overall motor functions. Even the physical capabilities of your body. All of it has been improved."** 'He" raised his finger up.

" **However,"** _Ha! I knew it! More shit for me to deal with!_ **"You need to be careful when using your 'superhuman' abilities. Some of these improvements can cause a great deal of damage to your body. Use them too much, and it will kill you.** _What!? What do you mean kill me!? Why give me something that can kill me? What is the point in that?_ "What do you mean by that?" Silence. "Well, answer me." 'He' just smiled even more.

" **Heh heh heh. I've told you all you need to know. Goodbye, young warrior.** With that, the door opened and the black hands pulled me into the gate yet again. Leaving the last thing for me to see was, THAT SMILE!

I was startled awake by Winry shaking my shoulders. "Win...Winry?" She had a worried look in her eyes. "You were having a nightmare. I've been trying to wake you up for 10 minuets. Are you okay?" I looked at her, then turned my gaze to my 'missing' legs. "Hmm. Yeah I'm fine Winry. Just a bad dream. I'll be fine, go back to sleep. Thank you." She nodded and left the room. Sigh…. _Improved mental abilities huh? And they can 'kill' me? Yeah, right. Like that's a fair trade 'Truth"._ I rolled back over and let the quiet of the night take me back. Take me back, and lull me to sleep.

I awoke the next morning to Al nudging my shoulder. "Drake, breakfast is ready. I came to carry you down. Did you want to change first?" I flipped over the covers and saw that I was only in my boxers. "Uh, I think that would be a good idea Al. Is there anything to change into?" Al walked to the dresser and grabbed some clothes that were on top. He then came back. "Sorry, but there aren't any other clothes you can wear, so you'll have to wear your old ones. Winry managed to get all the blood out of them so there all clean." I smiled at him.

"Thanks Al. Do you think you can give me a hand?" He nodded at me. "Of course. Here." I slipped my arms through the sleeves of my old fire proof coveralls. They were what tank crewmen wore inside of the tank. After slipping my stumps into the leg 'holes', I zipped it up and Al picked me up to carry me downstairs. "Hey Al. What happened to the rest of my stuff?" He looked at me and explained. "Your 'vest' thing is right there." I looked down and saw the body armor I was wearing when I…..died. Once again, I shivered. As well as my CVC. _That came with me too? Well, I don_ _'_ _t know what good it will do here, but I guess I'll find_ _some_ _use for it._ "And Winry put your weapon away so it doesn't cause suspicion." I nodded at everything he told me.

"Thanks Al. I'll have to ask Winry for it." Al looked at me with what I could guess were concerned eyes. "Why do you need it Drake? Nothing is going to happen. You safe here." I thought about that for a minuet. "I can tell Al. I can see that I don't have to worry. But, it is my weapon and I am responsible for it." Al looked at me, then looked forward as we went down the stairs. "I understand."

We get to the table and everyone was waiting for us. "Morning Mr. Ganters." Pinako greeted. "Please, just call me Drake maam." She turned to me as Al set me in a chair. "Very well, and you just call me Pinako, or granny. Take your pick." She smiled at me and I smiled back. "I'll go with granny then." I laughed under my breath. I turned to Ed and Winry. "And morning to you two." Winry smiled back at me while Ed just grumbled then yawned. _I guess he's not a morning person._

We began to eat, then I turned to Winry. "Hey Winry." She turned to look at me. "I don't mean any trouble, but I would like to have my gun back please." She gave me with a worried and puzzled look. "Why do you need it?" I gave a sigh and explained. "I may not be in my world anymore, and I may not have legs. But nonetheless, I am still a soldier. That weapon is my property, assigned to me by my military. That makes me responsible for it. I am aware that nothing is going to happen, so I won't even have it loaded. But regardless, I must have that weapon in my possession. It is my responsibility. Please understand." She gave a sad look and stood up. She walked to the cabinet and pulled out the pistol and three magazines with it. She walked over to me and hesitantly placed them in my hands. "Thank you Winry. I assure you, it's only because I have to have it with me as per my military orders." She gave a slow nod and I placed the weapon in my left chest pocket with the magazines in the other. We finished the rest of breakfast in silence.

After breakfast, me, Ed, and Al walked outside (me of course being carried by Al) to begin my first lessons in alchemy. Al set me down in the grass near the porch and Ed stretched out. I layed by onto the ground and looked at the sky. I could see the breeze was blowing, but I couldn't feel it. _So weird, not being able to feel the wind. It just 'feels' odd. I can see it, but I can't feel it._ "May I take a look at it?" I was pulled from my thoughts by Ed, who had his hand stretched out to me. "Huh? At what?" He gave a slight annoyed moan. "Your weapon. May I see it a minuet. I'm just curious." I thought about it a minuet. If this was a trick, he can't shoot me cause it's not loaded. And the magazines were separated from the weapon. _What the hell._ I unzipped my left chest pocket and pulled out my 50. Desert Eagle. At the time, the army was testing out the use for the Desert Eagle in tank close quarter combat, so all tank commanders had one. I locked the slide back and handed it to him. He looked at from all angles then handed it back to me.

"It's very odd, but yet cool at the same time. What does it shoot?" I placed the pistol back in my pocket and grabbed one of the magazines. I pushed a round out and handed the round to him. His eyes grew large. "I've never seen a bullet this big before." He handed it back to me. "It's a ½ inch round. We call it a 50 caliber." I slid the round back in the magazine and placed it back into my pocket. "Wow. Well, enough chatting. We don't have much time to teach you alchemy. So lets get to it." I nodded at him. "Right."


	10. So This is Alchemy

**The Blade Alchemist**

So This is Alchemy

Drake POV

I watched as Ed grabbed a stick and came back. "As I explained before, alchemy is the science of understanding the matter you are using, deconstructing it, then reconstructing it as something else. But you have to follow the basic laws of alchemy. In order to obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is the law that we alchemists call 'Equivalent Exchange'." I held up my hand to stop him a minuet. "Okay, so if I want to make something, I have to give up, or 'sacrifice' something that is equal to what I want to make?" He nodded at me and then continued.

"Yes. The object you want to make has to be the same mass and density of the object you started out with. The anatomical matter has to be the same as well. And you can't change animate objects into inanimate objects, or vice-versa. So you can't change a rock into water, or paper into metal." I thought for a second, then asked. "So I can change a rock into a stone sculpture, or metal into a bucket, as long as the end item has the same amount of matter as the start item. But I can't change a rock into a flower, or a tree in a car, correct? He smiled at me and nodded.

"You learn quite quickly, huh?" _If only you knew Ed._ "Okay then." He used the stick and drew a diagram with a circle and a few lines. "This is a basic transmutation circle. You can use it to change the shape of an object, but only to a simple object. And unlike more complex circles, you cant add other materials to the end item." Ed grabbed a small rock and placed it in the center of the circle. He then placed his hands on the circle and a blue light began to glow and small sparks erupted as the rock began to change shape. After the blue light and sparks disappeared, I looked and saw a small stone horse where the rock used to be. _So, this is alchemy? Amazing._

"So, with this circle I can only use a single material in the 'transmutation'. I can't use wood with rock and so on?" Ed picked up the horse figure. "Correct. But by reading books and training, you learn more complex circles and arrays. This allows you to perform more complex alchemy. Watch." Ed drew another 'array' and placed a few twigs on it. He stretched out his hand. "May I see one of your bullets?" I thought it over a second, then grabbed one of my magazines gave a bullet to him. He placed it with the twigs in the center of the circle and pressed his hands on the array.

Again, a blue light shown and sparks emitted. The objects morphed into one and changed shape. The blue light disappeared and in the circle was a small pile of gun powder and a small throwing knife. _Alchemy can even finish with multiple end items?_ "As you can see, this circle has a bit more detail to it. It would take a while to explain what each detail is and what it does, you will have to read up on it. We only have the time to get you into the 'feel' of alchemy, and get you to where you can perform it yourself. So here." He gave the branch to me. "Draw out your circle. Just like the one I showed you."

I nodded at him and begun to draw a 'crude' circle with lines. (Hey, I never said I was good at drawing!) I looked at Ed. He grabbed the horse figure, grabbed my hand, and made a slight correction to the circle. "It really doesn't have to be perfect. But if the circle is not right, it will most likely fail." He placed the figure in the center. "Okay. Now place your hands on the outer rim of the circle." I did as such.

"Now, picture in your head what you want the object you are transmuting, as what you want it to be. Lets go for a human shaped figure." I nodded, and closed my eyes. I pictured the horse figure turning into a human figure. "In your mind, look 'into' the object and see what it is made of. Now through your body, grab the item in your mind. Change the object into what you want it to be." I reached through my mind and morphed the figure. A small blue light began to glow. I could hear the sparks dancing around me. I saw the object in my mind change form into a blob, then into a small 'somewhat' human shape. The sparks and light disappeared, and I open my eyes.

There it was a 'crude', but still human, shaped figure in the center of the circle. _I did it! I performed alchemy!_ "Well, well. Not bad at all. I'm really impressed for it being your first time." I looked up to Ed and gave a slight smile. "Whew. Thanks Ed." I grabbed the figure and sat up as I looked at it closely. "This is defiantly not what I'm used to. Alchemy is no short task." Eds' eyes twitched and immediately Al grabbed Ed around the midriff. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO MINIATURE, HE GETS RUN OVER BY A BICYCLE?!" "Brother, that is NOT what he said!" Ed continued to rant as I turned to Al confused. "Uh, is he always like this? Al nodded. "Yeah, you have to really watch what you say around him when referencing anything small." At that, Ed really lost it. "AL! MY OWN BROTHER CALLING ME SHORT!? HOW COULD YOU!? YOU TRAITOR!" Al released Ed and held his hands up in surrender. "Brother, that is NOT what I said!" As weird as it was, I could only laugh at them.

"Hey guys! Lunch!" Winry called to us. Al walked over to me and picked me up. _This is really annoying. A 26 year old man, having to be toted around by a kid. This sucks. I can't wait to get new legs._ "So Drake." I turned to Ed. "Check on learning. What is the first law of alchemy?" I had to think back a minuet. "In order to obtain, something of equal value must be lost." Ed looked at me impressed. "Okay. What is another law?" Again, I think back.

"Everything you make must have the same mass and density and the object you started with. And the end result must be of the same characteristic. No rocks into flowers and such or vise-versa." Now Ed was surprised. We continued discussing the other things he taught me. "Wow, I can't believe you can retain everything so easily! Even I had some trouble learning so many new things at a time." I just shrugged my shoulders and looked towards the house as the three of us went inside.

Edward POV

 _I can't believe it._ _Even I had some trouble remembering some things after learning so much in a short time_. _But he just seems to lock everything in his mind!_ We all sat at the table and chowed down on some sandwiches. There was silence until Drake spoke up. "So Winry. When do you think I can get my legs back?" Winry thought for a moment. "Hmm. Well your wounds were decently healed when I checked them yesterday, but I would like to let the skin recover a bit more from closing the wounds up. We can do the surgery the day after tomorrow." Drake nodded at her. I spoke up. "Drake." He looked at me. "You need to ask yourself if you truly want to do this. Automail is good and all, are you really sure you want to go through with this?"

Drake put his sandwich down and looked down at the table. A moment passed before he spoke up. "Yes. This is what I want. Without legs, I'm only going to a burden to others. I was raised better than that. I'm going to get this surgery, get my legs back, and continue on with my life. Perhaps even enlist in this countries' military. I am making this decision on my own accord. And nothing you say will change my mind." Everyone looked at Drake after he said that. Al placed his hand on his shoulder. "Well then, I'll be cheering for you Drake." Winry followed suit. "Same here." I looked at him, and he looked at me. "And me as well. You get those legs, and walk forward on them." I held my fist out to him. Drake smiled and brought his fist to mine. "Will do, Ed!"

Drake POV

That evening, we all retired to our rooms. I layed on my bed looking out the window at the clear sky. _Enlist in this countries' military huh? That really isn't a bad idea, considering that I am already a soldier. I just need to get the surgery and rehabilitation done. Ed says 2-4 years, but does it really take that long? Or is that just the average person. I don't know what the rehabilitation consists of, but I can work on that during the day, and improving my alchemy at night. Huh, only time will tell._ I roll over to my side and close my eyes. _No. 8 months. I will be done in no more than 8 months. I have to!_ I let the quiet and calmness of the night take me into deep sleep. _Only time…..will tell._


	11. The Surgery

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Surgery

Edward POV

I layed there in bed, hands behind my head, while Al sat on the floor leaning against the wall. After lunch, Al took Drake back outside to practice more alchemy while I walked down to the library to check out a few books on alchemy for Drake to study. I began to run over everything Drake had said during lunch about his future plans.

 _Enlist in the military huh? I wonder if he plans to take the State Alchemist exams in the future. He did see the gate after all, so once he learns enough about alchemy he should be able to perform alchemy without a circle or an array._ "Brother." Als' voice pulled me back from my thoughts. "Yeah Al?" There was a moment of silence. I turn over to look at him. "Al?" He lowered his head then turned to me. "Brother, do you think that Drake will try to get his body back, like us?" I rolled back onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

"I don't know Al. I've only lost an arm and leg. It would be nice to get them back, but I'm not that worried about it. But you lost your whole body, we have to get that back. As for Drake, he lost both legs, and he can't feel anything. It wouldn't surprise me if he did try." I continued to go over everything in my head, until I felt sleep pull on me. _He's a fighter, and I could see the determination in his eyes. If he decides to try and get his body back, even I won't be able to stop him._ That was the last thing that went through my mind before sleep finally took me.

Drake POV

I was pulled from sleep by Al lightly shaking my shoulder. "Drake" he said in a low voice. I just mumbled back. "Hmmm?" He stopped shaking me and stood straight. "Brother and I are leaving now. I thought you would want to come say goodbye." I opened my eyes and I could see that it was still dark out. I turned over to face him. "What time is it?" I looked at the watch on my wrist, 4:32am. "Your leaving this early in the morning?" He nodded. "We have to so we can catch the train to Liore. Did you want to say bye to Ed?" I sat up in bed and yawned while rubbing sleep out of my eyes. "Yeah, can you give me a hand? After all, wheelchairs can't exactly tackle stairs very well." He bent down and picked me up as we made our way to the living room.

As we get to the bottom of the stairs, I see Ed with a suitcase slung over his shoulder. Al set me down in the wheelchair at the base of the stairs. Winry managed to find the old dusty one that Ed once used before he got his leg. I roll over to them and stop in front of Ed. "Well, I guess your heading out huh?" He smiled and nodded as Al stretched out his hand to me and I took it in a solid handshake. "Yeah. We've got to get back to our mission before Colonel bastard chews my ears off. I left some beginners books on alchemy in the kitchen for ya. That should keep you busy till you are able to go to the library for more."

I let go of Als hand and took Eds in return. I gave him a solid nod. "Thanks Ed, Al. For all you've done for me. I can't thank you enough. I look forward to seeing you again." Ed nodded back to me and we all turned to the stairs when we heard footsteps. It was Winry, who walked down the stairs and gave each brother a hug. "You didn't think you were going to get away without me saying goodbye did you?" She released the brothers and turned to me. "You need to get back to bed. Your body is going to need all the rest it can get for the surgery tomorrow." I smiled and waved back at them until Al picked me back up and carried me back to my room. He set me on the bed and we gave each other one last handshake. "Bye Al. Catch you later." He nodded then left the room as I layed back and let sleep take me again.

 **The next day**

Drake POV

I heard a soft knock on my door, causing me to wake up. "Hold on." I pulled the covers off and sat up. I pulled the wheelchair over to my side and I slid myself into it, almost tipping over. Last night, Winry moved me into one of the downstairs rooms so that I could use my wheelchair to move around. She didn't want to carry me down stairs right before a surgery as it would put some strain on the surgical site. Once in my chair, I rolled over to the door and opened it to find granny Pinako there.

"Good morning granny. Where is Winry?" She gave me a smile and moved aside so I could leave the room. "Morning Drake. Winrys in the operating room getting it ready. We're going to the kitchen and get some water for you. You have to be awake the whole time during the surgery." We entered the kitchen and she walked over to the sink to fill a glass. "Why do the patients have to be awake during surgery? Wouldn't it be easier if they were knocked out?" She jumped of the step stool and handed me the glass.

"All other surgeries, yes that would be the case. But when it comes to automail surgery where we have to work with the nerves and tendons, the patient has to be awake. If the patient is asleep, the nerves and tendons will retract into the body, making it very difficult to grab them to connect to the port." I finished my glass and gave it to granny who returned to the sink to fill it up again. "However, the surgery is usually only 15-20 minuets for a single limb. Two limbs of course take longer. But seeing as how you can't feel pain, no offense," I waved my hand at her letting her know that none was taken. "your surgery should take no more than 20-25 minuets because we won't have to fight you."

I looked at her confused. "Fight me?" She nodded. "Remember, the patient is awake through the whole thing. And no one is just going to sit there while under so much pain." I face palmed myself. _Duh, I'm such an idiot._ "Granny, Drake, everything is ready." we heard Winry call from the back room. So I finished my water and rolled to the operating room. I came through the doorway and rolled over to the medical bed that was lowered down, so that I could slide onto it off the chair. Winry and granny lifted the bed to where it locked itself in a higher position.

"Well, are you ready?" Winry asked. I gave a loud and long sigh. "Yup! Lets do this!" Both women nodded at me then began working. "Scalpel and forceps...cutting." Within seconds, my stump started bleeding profusely. "Port..." _This is just so weird. They're cutting me open and I can't feel it._ Winry turned to her right to grab more tools and I could see the blood on her clothes. My stomach started to churn with all the blood I saw, so I leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "Winry, I'll attach the skin to the port and tidy it up, start on the other one." I heard the rattling of tools as they were being tossed into a small bucket of disinfectant. "Alright, number two..." Winry grabbed a small rag and used it to wipe the sweat off her brows.

"Cutting..." Now the other stump was bleeding, but at least the other one had stopped. Granny was using a wrench to tighten down the clamps on the port that were holding the skin. "Port..." Winry whispered. Afterwards, granny began to smother the skin with what looked like a jelly. "This is to help the skin heal and bond to the port faster. It also helps prevent infection." I nodded at her and layed my head back and waited for them to finish. "Ok. We just need to tighten the clamps to the skin and coat it. After that, we're all done. I'm gonna go grab some water for Drake granny."

A few more minuets passed and Winry returned with a glass of water, which she gave me. Granny turned to me. "That's it, all finished. Your not going to be able to leave that bed for at least 12 hours. After that, we will wheel the bed to your room and lay you in your own bed. Your gonna be bed ridden for the next 3-4 days while the ports heal up. During that time, Winry and I will start working on blueprinting and constructing your new legs." I finished the water and gave the glass back to Winry. "Do you have an idea as to what general specifications you want for the design?" she asked. I thought about it for a minuet.

"Yeah, something that is really light weight so that I'll be able to move and run quickly. And while I'm stuck here, can I have one of my books so I can study up on alchemy?" Winry nodded and left the room. Granny spoke up. "Well, I'll go start on lunch and make some tea. I'll bring it back here to you." I nodded and game her a smile. "Thank you, you know, for everything. You saved me and took me in, and now your giving me my legs back. I really cannot thank you enough." She just smiled and left the room. I layed my head back and took a deep breath. _My legs back._ _I can' believe_ _I'm getting my legs back._


	12. New Legs

**The Blade Alchemist**

New Legs

Drake POV

Winry returned a few moments later with a sandwich, a cup of tea, and one of the alchemy books Ed had gotten for me. She placed the book on the table next to me along with the tea, and set the plate with the sandwich on my lap. "Here you go. I hope you don't mind turkey, and I've put a little sugar in the tea. But be careful, the tea is really hot." I gave her a smile and placed my hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Winry" She returned the smile and nodded. "Your quite welcome, Drake. I have to go now. I've gotta get started on drawing up the schematics for your legs, but I'll check back in with you later. Just holler if you need anything, okay?" I patted her shoulder and turned to my lunch. "Will do." Winry turned and left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

I finished my sandwich and set the plate on the table. I grabbed the alchemy book and read the cover. "Alchemhy for Beginners" I opened to the first page and began reading.

"Chapter one: Basic Alchemy

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost." "That is Alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange." _Just as Ed explained.._ "The one thing needed to know, to do any type of Alchemy; Equivalent Exchange. The foundation rule of all Alchemy." "Alchemy is the breaking down, and rebuilding of atomic structures. You can not make something out of nothing."

"That one rule is the basic back bone of Alchemy." "Keeping that in mind, you must always remember, not everything is created equally. By 'value', we mean mass, element purity, etc. The finishing product can only be as good as the materials you use; basically. Now, creating new material using two or more readily at-hand elements, requires understanding of basic chemistry and full knowledge of the periodic table." _It's a good thing I paid attention in chemistry class._ My chemistry teacher hated me. I was too good at it and tended to 'experiment' on my own. Thus causing numerous small explosions and fires at my table. Thus resulting in my school nickname, "Pyro".

I continued to read for hours until I glanced at my watch. 9:47pm "Wow! It's that late already? I should get some sleep." I placed a small piece of paper in the pages to keep track of where I left off, closed the book and set it on the table. I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." The door was pushed open and Winry walked in. "How are you doing? Me and granny are going to bed now, so I came to see if you needed anything." I shook my head. "Nah, I'm ok. I was just going to sleep as well. I'll see ya in the morning." Winry smiled at me and nodded. "Okay, we'll move you to the other room in the morning after breakfast. Goodnight." "Night" Winry turned the light out and left the room.

The next morning I woke up early before anyone else did for some reason. I looked at my watch and saw that it was only 5:22am. I couldn't read my book cause there was not enough light to see the words clearly, and the light switch was all the way by the door. Sigh. _Hell with it._ I rolled over onto my stomach and began doing 'makeshift' pushups. Makeshift being that half my legs were missing so I had to do 'half' pushups. I started knocking them out quickly. _21, 22, 23, 24…_ I kept on going until I noticed that my arms were slowing down. _I must be close to the max. 125, 126, 127_

Keep in mind that it's very uncommon to be able to do so many, but that's when you are using your toes as the pivot point. I was using my stumps that ended a few inches above my knees. So that makes the pushups much easier to do, so you can do a lot more. _155...156….157…._ Suddenly my arms gave out and I plopped onto the pillow. "Okay," I mumbled under my breath in between breaths. I rolled onto my back. "157...Not...bad...considering that...I haven't exercised...in a while." I slowed down my breathing back to normal, placed my hands interlocked behind my head and started knocking out crunches.

 _31, 32, 33,_ Suddenly the light turned on. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Shocked I turn to see Winry standing in the doorway with a glass of milk. "ARE YOU STUPID!? YOUR GONNA RIP OPEN YOUR WOUNDS!" I lay back down (caught during mid crunch) and sighed. "Sorry, I woke up real early and was bored. Besides, I need to keep my body in tune." Winry stormed over to me. "That's not the point! You may not feel it, but you just put a lot of strain on those nerves! There was a reason that we didn't move you yesterday! It wouldn't surprise me if you tore them!" I held my hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was that bad. Sorry."

Winry handed me the glass and walked over to my stumps, inspecting them. "Well, I don't see any damage. The ports seem to be okay. And your healed enough to go back to your room. Lets go ahead and get you moved." I sat up as she brought the wheelchair over to me. She grabbed my back and lowered me down into the chair. "If I catch you doing that again I'll strap you down to the bed! Understand me!?" I looked at her and she he that death stare. I quickly nodded and turned my gaze from her. "Good."

For the next five days there was nothing to do but stretch my arms and read my alchemy books. Ed only got 4 of them and I quickly read through the first 3, and I was almost done with the last. And these are THICK books. I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opened and Winry and granny both walked in, Winrys hands behind her back. I looked at her with a raised brow. "What?" She smiled at me and pulled her hand from behind her, in each hand she was holding a metal leg. Now both brows were raised to the roof. "There done!?" Her smile just got bigger and she nodded.

"Yup. What do you think?" she asked as she handed my one of the legs. For being metal, I was surprised at how light it was, only around 13-15lbs. The exterior was completely smooth and the sunlight reflected off it like a mirror. I flexed the joints and, besides the movement of the cables and wires inside, it didn't squeak or rattle. I couldn't believe how well made and detailed it was. I turned back to Winry. "Don't take this the wrong way, but is all automail made as good as this?" Winrys eyes lit up at that.

"There are some crude designs out there but for the most part, most automail limbs are crafted really well." I looked back at the leg and sighed. Winry looked a bit confused. "What's wrong? Do you not like it?" I quickly look back at her. "Oh no no no. I love it. It's just that….I really can't believe I'm getting my legs back. That day when I first woke up, and you showed me my missing legs….I broke down. I thought my life was over, that I would never walk again." Winry and granny stared at me with concerned eyes. "But now you've given that back to me. You gave me back my legs so I could walk again." Tears started to run down my cheeks. I sat there staring down at the automail leg, tears pouring down my face. "Thank you…."

Winry quietly bent down and wrapped her arms around me. "Your welcome." She let go and I wiped the tears off my face with my sleeve. I turned to the two women and smiled. "Well, enough chit chat. What do you say we get those legs on you?" granny spoke up. I looked at her with a serious but happy stare. "Right." I layed back flat on the bed while Winry left to go get the tools needed. Moments later, she was back and the two women began installing the legs to the ports on my stumps. "Just make sure you don't mix up left from right please Winry." She turned around and out came the wrench. Head, meet wrench. "JUST WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" I couldn't feel it, but I knew that one hurt cause my head started spinning lightly.

"Now I really feel sorry for Ed." I looked back at Winry and she was giving me the super death glare. "You better not forget what I told you about hurting my automail! Cause if you do, I will kill you!" I swallowed hard and I could guess that sweat was pouring from my head. "Okay, I wont. I promise." She smiled and then turned back to the leg. I sighed and rested my head on the pillow. _Great, now I have to worry about_ _dealing_ _her from now on. Just grand._

"Alright, in 3...2...1..." They both turned a wrench at the same time and I heard a low, dull ping sound. "Okay, all done. It's really strange connecting the nerves and the patient not yelling. But your all set for now. But don't try to move it. Your nerves need to get used to them being attached. If you try to move them, you'll only cause damage to them. Okay?" I sit up and look at my new legs. "I got it." She placed her hand on my head and pushed it back so I was looking at her. "I mean it! No more exercising until I say so." I gave her a small smile and nodded. Granny turned towards the door. "Well it's time for supper so I'll get started." Winry gathered her tools left the room as well. I turned back to my legs and just stared at them. _Their back. I really have my legs back._


	13. Rehabilitation Pt 1

**The Blade Alchemist**

Rehabilitation Pt 1

 **Week 1**

Drake POV

I finished all of the books that Ed got for me so I decided to try a few transmutations on my own. I grabbed the pen and notepad out of the pockets on my coveralls that were folded over the back of the chair next to me. I rip a piece of paper from the pad and draw a decent circle. I've been practicing my drawing to get better. I add some lines to the array and placed a few screws that I asked Winry for in the center. I closed my eyes and placed my hands on the circle. A small blue light emitted and sparks danced around my hands. The sparks and light faded, I open my eyes and see the result. A very small and simple throwing knife.

I picked it up and flipped it through my fingers. The balance on the blade was a tad off, but it was still pretty good for being a novice. With precision I tossed it up a couple feet in the air, caught it by the blade between my index and middle fingers and threw it at the wall, all within a split second. The blade hit the wall exactly where I aimed at. I smiled to myself, but the smile disappeared after I thought about what I did. _Great, now how am I going to get that back? I really didn't think that one through._

 **Week 2**

I looked down at my legs and I could see that I could now move a couple of the toes. Not much, but I could at least move them. Winry was not happy about discovering the knife in the wall, and threaten to beat my face in with a wrench if it happened again. So, yeah. Not gonna pull that stunt again. She also kept reminding me not to try and move my legs at all, so just decided not to tell her about being able to move the toes.

 **Week 3**

Much to Winrys surprise, Ed and Al came by for a visit and to check up on me. Turned out that whatever they were looking for was a hoax. Al was downstairs helping granny with supper while I showed Ed what I learned with alchemy. I did a couple a transmutations higher than basic level, but nothing advanced. He was completely shocked at that. "Wow. You have gotten good. Where did you learn that? Those books don't say anything about stuff of this level." I began to explain to him that I remembered what the different symbols of an array mean and what they control. I then told him about my bad habit of 'experimenting', and a pieced together the different symbols with lines in the right spots. He pinched the bridge on his nose and sighed. "You really need to be careful Drake. If you don't know what your doing, the failure can be real bad." I nodded at him and asked him if he could check out some more books. Which he did. The brothers left for a city they called 'Central' the next morning.

 **Week 4**

Still unknown to Winry, I continued to practice moving my legs. I could now fully flex all of the toes on both legs. I tried to move the ankle and I could see it twitch but nothing else. I suddenly coughed into my hand and when I pulled it back there was a bit of blood on it. I ignored it and continued. The ankle started slightly twitching again, each time moving just a fraction more. I coughed up blood again, but more this time. _Okay, now I need to stop._

There was a knock on the door. I quickly wiped the blood on my coveralls and turned them over to hide it. "Come in." Winry walked into the room, moved the chair and sat down next to my legs. "Okay, I'm gonna flex your toes to stretch out and exercise the nerves so we can get you to where you can start moving them on your own." "Okay." She grabs one of the toes and starts flexing it up and down. I could already move them all, but I dared not to tell her. She kept working the toes for the rest of the afternoon.

 **Week 5**

I sat in bed taking notes and cross referencing them from the new books Ed got me when he visited. While doing so, I was flexing my ankle up and down, then left to right. It was still really stiff, but it was getting there. While going through my notes and copies of arrays that I drew, and of course ignoring Eds warning, I came up with an array that 'should' be able to pull metal from the ground and such. If my figures were correct, the array would gather together all of the metal fragments and particles from the area. Then combine it and morph it into a solid metal object. Of course, I'm not stupid, so I decided not to try and use it until Ed and Al took a look at it. A look at the watch, 8:32pm. Yup, time for bed. I put all my notes away, slide down under the covers. I let out a sigh and begin to think. _That 'Truth' thing wasn't kidding. My learning capabilities really were improved. I've only been here about two months and I already know so much on alchemy. It's just..weird._ I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

 **Week 6**

After everyone was asleep, I rolled over on my stomach and tried to do some push ups. I haven't done any exercise since that day after my surgery, so I needed to work out body at least a little. I start pressing my body up and down, silently counting in my head. _12, 13, 14, 15._ I kept going for a a little over a minuet until again my arms started to slow down. _81...82...83 Come on!...84…_ Then my arms caved in, my face landing on the pillow. I tried to keep my breath down as not to wake anyone. I rolled onto my back and began doing crunches. I continued to count in my head until I couldn't raise my upper body anymore. _122….I guess that's not bad._ I decided to call it for the night.

 **Week 7**

I could now fully move both ankles in full motion. Of course there were a couple of times that I started spitting of blood again, but I just wiped it off and continued. Now I was trying to move the knee joints. Like before with my ankles, they would very slightly twitch but nothing more. Then I saw blood seeping out of the port on my left leg. _Oh crap. Winry is going to murder me._ "Uh, Winry!" A second later, I heard footsteps coming from her workshop in the next room and stop in front of my door. She opened the door and looked inside. "Yeah?" I pointed at the blood and she ran over. "What did you do!?" I waved my hands trying to calm her down. "It was an accident! I swear! I was trying to sit up and my hand slipped and hit it." She looked at me with annoyed eyes, but not the death glare. She pulled a towel from the dresser and gave it to me. "It will be fine, just put light pressure on it till it stops bleeding. It will heal back up. Just be more careful." I nodded at her and she left the room back to her workshop. _Whew. Close one._

 **Week 8**

Winry finally allowed me to climb out of bed to my wheelchair. I rolled to the front door, opened it, and went to the porch. Winry was right behind me. "I have to head to town to get some groceries. Do you want anything?" I shook my head and waved as she left. When she was out of sight, I started flexing my knees. I could get plenty of movement, but not quite full range. "How are the knees coming along?" I froze. _OH SHIT!_ I slowly turned around and there stood granny Pinako. "Uh….." was all I could manage. She walked over and tapped the left knee with her pipe. "I hope you have been oiling it. It makes it less stiff." I just swallowed and stared at her. "Uh….how long…?" She took a puff from her pipe and let out the smoke. "For about two weeks now." I just kept staring at her as she drew from her pipe again. "I'm not a fool Drake. You can't feel the pain from the sore nerves, and I can very easily see that your not that good at listening to others advice. I found your coveralls under the bed while you were asleep and they had blood on them. And then there was last week when your port started bleeding." I set my hand on top of my head and ruffled my hair. "Winry is going kill me!" Granny just chuckled at that. "Yes she will, but only if she finds out." I look at granny confused. "What are you getting at?" She took another draw from fer pipe. "You have no need to worry. I'm not going to say anything. It's all coming along smoothly and there appears to be no damage to the port or nerves. But don't push it. Remember, you push them too far and they will away from the ports. Now, I'm going to start on dinner. Pot pie okay with you?" I nodded and smiled. She turned and walked to the door. "Granny." She stopped and turned around. "Thank you." She smiled and walked inside.


	14. Rehabilitation Pt 2

**The Blade Alchemist**

Rehabilitation Pt 2

 **Week 9**

Drake POV

Finally! I could fully move both of the legs freely. I sat on the edge of the bed lifting and lowering the legs and flexing all of the joints. With granny's help I was able to get some lubricating oil without Winrys knowledge so I was able to completely get rid of the stiffness in the joints. Sigh. _If this keeps up I should be able to walk and run soon._ The door suddenly opened an I tightened up expecting it to be Winry, but it turned out to be granny. I let out the breath I was holding as she closed the door and walked up to me. "So you can move them fully now, huh?" she said in a low voice. I gave a slight smile and nodded. "You are more than likely going to call me an idiot for asking. But, I want to try standing." She gave a silent growl, and looked at me with annoyed eyes. "Are you really trying to kill yourself? You've only had those legs for two months, and you want to try standing?" I stared back at her and gave a heavy nod. "Sigh. Fine. Put your hand on the table for support and take it slow."

I did as such. I placed the first foot on the floor, then the next. I took a deep breath and slowly stood up straight. The legs looked like they were going to buckle, but held my weight. After a minuet, I regained my balance enough and was able to take my hand off the table. "Alright, that's enough now sit back down" I stood there for another minuet, taking in the fact that I was standing again. I can stand up again. "Drake, sit down now." I sat back down and wiped the tears that I just realized were on my face. "Thank you granny, thank you." She smiled at me and nodded. "Your welcome, but don't try it on your own. Only do it when I am in here with you. That is my rule for you. Break it, and I'll go get Winry." I twitched at the thought of Winry coming in here with that damned wrench. "Yes granny, I promise." She nodded then left the room. I fell back onto the bed looking out the window. _I can stand again. I can stand!_

 **Week 10**

Over the past week, granny has been secretly helping me out with standing, crouching, and kneeling. And now that she was sure that my nerves could handle it, I began taking very small steps, using the wheelchair for support. "Now your left…..good. Now the right…..very good. Left again…." _I'm walking! I can walk again!_ Suddenly my knees began to buckle and I stopped where I was. I waited a minuet for them to stop shaking. "Alright, thats enough. Lets get back on the bed." When the knees stopped shaking, I started to turn around to go back towards the bed. Today was the best day ever, that is, until there was knocking on the door. Me and granny both froze as the door opened. "Hey granny, do you know what….happened….." All three of us just stood there staring at each other, in complete silence. Sweat was pouring off my face. _Oh no. Oh shit. I'm dead! She is really going to kill me!_ " **WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?** " She grabbed a wrench from behind her and was just about to throw it. "WINRY DON'T YOU DARE!" granny shouted, almost as loud as she did. Winry stopped and looked right at granny with shocked eyes. I have never seen granny shout like that, and I don't think Winry has either judging by her expression. "It is NOT all his fault! I knew about his progression for weeks now! If I thought there was any danger I would have slugged him myself! I encouraged him to work harder! If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at ME! But don't you dare take it out on him!"

Winry was completely frozen in shock. She didn't move an inch for a good 5 minuets or so. Finally, she lowered the wrench and stared at the floor. I could barely hear her sniff and I saw a tear run down her cheek. "Sorry grandma." she spoke in a low, broken tone. Granny walked over to her and sighed. "Winry, you should know just by looking at him that nothing was going to stop him, not even if you slugged him twice a day. Instead of being upset about this, you should be happy that he is walking again." Winry just nodded then turned to leave. "I'm sorry." she said as she left. I slowly sat down on the floor where I was. "Sigh. She will be alright Drake. She is just worried about you. She is afraid that you will kill yourself like this after what she went through to save you. Don't hold it against her." Silence filled the room for a minuet. "I don't. I know I should have told her, but I was selfish. I didn't think about her. I should go apologize to her." I slowly picked myself up and slid into the wheelchair next to me. "While your gone, I'll go make us some tea."

We both left the room, granny went to the kitchen, and I rolled next door to Winry's workshop. I gave a long sigh, then knocked. "Winry?" there was a short silence. "Go away." I sighed again. "Winry. I am sorry. It was selfish of me not to tell you. Especially after all you have done for me. I was wrong and I'm sorry. Please, may I come in?" "Do what you want." I took a deep breath and opened the door. She was sitting in her work chair, arms crossed on the table, and her face buried in them. I rolled over to her but there were automail parts and tools all over the floor. Evident she decided to take her anger out on them. I looked back at her. "Winry please talk to me."

She turned and faced me, her face covered in tears. "Why should I? You've lied to me for months! Why should I talk to you? Why should I even care?" I looked at her straight in the eyes. "Because you do care!" I yelled. Her eyes started to fill with anger. "It's because you care! Look at the floor! Shit is thrown everywhere because your angry! Why are you angry!? Because you care!" Her eyes were now filled with confusion and shock after that, and she was staring at me. "Yes, I lied to you! I hid my whole progression from you! I was selfish and for that I'm sorry! But don't ever ask why you should care!"

I was now only a foot from her face, that was frozen in shock. _What the?_ I looked back and there was my chair, 6 feet behind me. I had walked right up to her and didn't even realize it. I took a deep breath and sat down on the floor. I sighed and continued in a low voice. "You do care Winry. You care too much for your own good. You took me in and saved my life. You gave me my legs back. You gave me my life back. That all proves that you care. Cause if you didn't, I wouldn't be alive right now. Sigh. I have nothing more to say. I'm sorry Winry." We both sat in silence for what seemed like eternity.

I picked myself up and slowly walked back to the wheelchair. I tripped on a tool and fell, but was caught by Winry. I looked back and she had a smile on her face. "Thank you." she said. She helped me back to the chair and we both slowly made our way to the kitchen. I stopped and so did she. "Winry, I will not hide anything from you again. I swear on it." I looked up at her and held out my hand. "Can we let bygones be bygones?" She looked at me….then smiled. "Sure" She grabbed my hand and shook it. "Are you two idiots done now? The tea is getting cold." We both turned to see granny standing in the hallway waiting on us. We looked back at each other, smiled, looked back at granny and said "Yup, all good."

 **Week 11**

After close inspection, Winry decided that I was ready to walk around on my own. _Yes! No more wheelchair!_ She finished doing the last bit of adjustments to my legs and let me up. "Keep in mind that what you said last week doesn't change anything Drake." I looked at her, brow raised. "Change what?" Cue the death glare. "If you hurt my automail I'll kill you" "Yes maam!" I answered very quickly. Her smile returned and she packed up all her tools. I stood up and stretched out a minuet. "Hey Winry." She stood up as well and looked at me. "Yes?"

"Do you have any spare metal that I can have. I would like to practice some alchemy." She nodded and went to her workshop. A few minuets later she returned with a tray of old beaten down parts and screws. "Thanks." I turned and walked outside and out to the yard. I set the tray down and drew a circle in the dirt. Once done, I placed half of the parts in the center. I placed my hands on the edge and began to transmute the scrap metal. It all bonded into one, all changed to it's final shape.

Once the light show was gone, I saw a perfectly shaped katana (a Japanese sword) lying in the center. I picked it up and tested it's balance on my finger. _Perfect._ "Drake!" _Hey, that voice was familiar._ I look up to see a very familiar blond haired boyand suit of armor walking up the road. "Ed! Al!" I turned to the house. "Winry, the boys are back!"


	15. The Boys Are Home

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Boys Are Home

Edward POV

"I wonder how Winry and granny have been doing." Me, Al and Major Armstrong were walking (or in Als case, being carried in a box on Armstrong's shoulder) up the road from the train station to Winrys house. "And don't forget about Drake brother. Don't forget the situation he was in when we left." Ed deadpanned. "Of course Al. How could we forget about him. I've actually been waiting to see him again." The major turned to me. "And who is this Drake person?" I twitched a second. _Oh crap._ _I forgot about that. I can't tell him that he went through the gate. Whats a good excuse?_ "Uh, He's an old friend of ours. Yeah. He got into an accident recently and lost his legs. So he's staying at Winrys place till he gets better." _I hope he buys it._ "I see. Is he from around here?" I thought about it a minuet.

"For the most part. He likes to travel, so he's pretty much from everywhere." _Crap. I hope he doesn't ask him about that._ "Drake!" Al suddenly shouted. I look up and see him sitting in the front yard holding something. He turned to us and smiled. "Ed! Al!" We started to walk faster. "Winry, the boys are back!" As we got closer, granny walked out the front door. "Winry! Our best customer is here!" she yelled into the house.

Drake POV

I stood up and walked toward the brothers. That's when Ed freaked out. "What the hell!? How are you walking around so soon!?" I put my hand behind my head. "Uh, long and short story. I'll explain later." Granny got to the bottom of the porch and looked at Ed. "Oh dear. What have you done now?" I could see the embarrassment on his face. "A lot has happened. Can you fix us up?" I really don't know how it happened, but the suit of armor I thought was AL, turned out to be a great big, HUGE, muscular man. He had a box on his shoulder. _Is that Al inside the box!?_ He set the box down on the ground. Ed continued.

"This is Major Alex Louis Armstrong." The man held his hand out to granny and she took it. "I'm Pinako Rockbell." He turned to me and I shook his hand as well. "Drake Samuel Ganters, sir. Pleasure to meet you" We released the handshake. "The pleasure is mine Mr. Ganters." I smirked. "Please, just Drake sir." "And you just call me Alex." We nodded in agreement. Granny spoke up. "I know I haven't seen you for a while Ed, but you've gone and grown smaller." Eds eye twitched. "Granny, you've got it wrong. Your supposed to say 'how big you've grown lately Ed'"

"But why would I say something so clearly untrue?"

"I'M STILL TALLER THAN YOU, YOU MINI HAG!"

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. _This guy really has a serious anger issue._ A small glint caught my eye and as I turn, I see an all too familiar object flying towards Ed, smacking him in the face. "Edward, I thought I told you to call first when your heading back here for maintenance!" I look to where the voice and wrench came from and saw Winry standing on the balcony. "Winry! Are you trying to kill me!?" Ed ranted. She broke out into a laugh, and I just shook my head. "Welcome back." she yelled. He just stared back at her. "Yeah."

I turned to Al. "So Al,..." He looked 'up' at me. "What exactly happened to you? Your in a million pieces. And Eds arm is missing." I could swear it looked like he was giving me a false smile. "Uh, it's a long story. But what about you? How could you already be walking? You had the surgery only three months ago? And with two legs." Ed turned to me as well. "Yeah! How is that!?" I sighed. "Lets just leave it as a long story that includes Winry wrench."

I could see a look of pity on Eds face. "So you've met it too huh?" I nodded quickly at him with wide eyes. "You poor bastard. So hows your alchemy coming?" I held up he sword for him to see. "I actually transmuted this just before you got here. And later on, there are some notes I wrote down that I would like you to take a look at." He smiled at me and I smiled back. "That's not bad at all. We'll look at those notes tonight. Well, lets head inside, but I would like to hear on how you recovered so damn fast." We started walking towards the house.

"Well, to put it simple, I can't feel pain. So I didn't have a way to know my body was telling me to stop. And there was also granny, she was helping me a lot. But I'd say what the biggest factor is, is that I really just wanted to walk again so bad. Me and Winry even got into a huge fight about it when she found out." Ed looked at me confused. "When she found out? What do you mean?" I gave a fake laugh. "Uh, well, you see. She didn't know I was progressing so quickly. She threatened me with that 'friend' of hers. So didn't tell her. But she caught me one day and just about, literally, almost killed me. But we had a talk and came to terms. But it's all good now, and she released me on my own just an hour ago."

I stopped and waved as the brothers walked into the house, leaving me with that Armstrong guy. "So Drake. From what I heard, it sounded like your learning alchemy. How long have you been studying it?" I looked up at him. "Uh, really, not very long. Ed gave me the basics, and the rest I got from books. I'm going to take a guess and say your an alchemist as well?" All of the sudden, his shirt ripped off, exposing his well ripped, and freakish, mussels. "Why good sir, I am the State Alchemist known as the 'Strong Arm Alchemist', Alex Louis Armstrong." He finished in a pose, flexing his freakishly huge chest mussels. "Uhhhh...okaaaayy. So, sorry but I'm not from around here so there is a lot of stuff I don't know. Just, what exactly is a State Alchemist? And it's Drake." Alex looked at me with a puzzled stare.

"Well drake. A State Alchemist is an alchemist hired by the state military." I raised a brow. "Interesting. So how does one become a State Alchemist?" He began to explain. "Well, the State holds a State Alchemist exam once a year. It consists of a written exam, a physical exam, and a physical demonstration of your skills and abilities. But they only pick one or two a year. I only heard of two times where they picked three." I set my chin in my hand thinking. "Hmm, and for the 'physical demonstration', you can choose what to do? It's not restricted to only performing alchemy?" Alex nodded. "Correct. But make no mistake, all of it is extremely difficult." I continued. "So, your 'abilities' can be strictly combat based?" "Of course, just like mine are. It seems your thinking of taking the exams correct? Might I ask what your abilities are?" I looked at him and gave a smirk. "I'm an expert in martial arts, swordsmanship and, knife throwing. I know I'm not the best where I come from, but I'm no amateur."

"I see. If your legs weren't healing, I'd have a match with you to see how you are." I simply gave him a smile. "Rain check then?" I held out my hand to him and he took it. "But of course. I look forward to it." Our hands separated. "As do I Major. Lets head inside." Me and Alex turned to the doorway and headed for the kitchen. We sat down at the table and granny gave us each a cup of tea. "So how are the legs doing Drake?" I took a sip of the tea and looked her. "Their fine. No problems at all. I was thinking of walking to town to take those books back and get more." She looked at the legs then back at me.

"Alright Drake. But be careful not hurt yourself. Cause if you do, I wont save you from Winry." I twitched hard at that. "Uh, yes maam. I will" I gave a 'somewhat' reassuring smile. She smiled back and walked to the living room. "What does she mean by save you from Winry" Alex asked. I turned to him. "Stick around long enough and you'll see for yourself." I lowered my voice to a whisper. "I swear that woman is pure evil sometimes." Something started flying towards me and, somehow, I caught it in my hand. It was a wrench. "Ha, nice try. I Win..." I was smacked in the head by a second wrench. "What did you call me!?" My head was spinning and I managed a, "Nothing, nothing at all." I could hear Ed snickering on the couch. "Your next Ed!" He immediately shut up. _Yup, pure evil. That's exactly what she i_ _s, pure evil._


	16. Three Days

**The Blade Alchemist**

Three Days

Winry POV

After reclaiming the wrenches I threw at Drake, I grabbed the box that Ed said his broken arm was in. I set it on the table and opened the lid to find a large pile of automail pieces. I stared at the contents in complete shock. "OH NO!" I shouted and picked up a handful of pieces in each hand and stared at them. _MY CREATION! MY BEAUTIFUL CREATION!_ "Yeah, sorry. It's a little smashed up." _I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! IT'S COMPLETLY RUINED!_ "A little smashed up? A little, Ed!? Do you see what you've done to my beautiful creation!? I slaved over this!" _I'm going to KILL him!_ "It's basically the same; it's just in smaller pieces." I immediately turned around and slammed my fist in his face.

After he fell on the floor, I heard Drake ask for some cleaning oil from granny who then left the room. I turned towards AL who was in pieces as well. "Don't tell me, you a little smashed up too Al? What kind of trouble have you been getting yourselves into?" Granny returned to the kitchen with a small bottle of oil and gave it to Drake. When Al didn't answer me, I kicked him in the head. Granny came back and stood besides me. "You idiots. All you ever do is worry me."

Drake POV

After Winry was done beating the shit out of the brothers, her and granny began discussing the automail damages. While they were talking, I grabbed a dirty towel and placed it on the table. I pulled my pistol out from my pocket and began disassembling it. I didn't want to get in their way, so I decided to clean it to keep me busy. The Major was watching me with curious eyes and spoke up. "That's one large firearm Drake! Where in the world did you get that? And why do you have it?" I twitched. _Oh crap. How could I forget about that? What in the world should I tell him?_ "Uh, I have a great interest in firearms. My dad was a firearm designer and he built it. And he gave it to me when he passed away." I lied.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Losing a loved one is hard. May I take a look at it?" I grabbed the barrel assembly and gave it to him as well as one of the rounds so he could see the caliber. It was in pieces so at the moment the gun is completely useless. "Oh my! This is what it fires? Why so big?" I set a piece I just cleaned back on the towel and grabbed another. "Really don't know. He had that 'bigger is better' mentality." I lied again. He gave me back the piece and round and I continued cleaning. _Whew, I think he bought it._

Edward POV

"Three days." granny told me. She grabbed a plastic spare leg and installed it on my port. "But you'll have to make do with this spare for now." _Three days huh?_ I try to stand up and almost lost my balance due to the 'strange' leg. I managed to regain myself quickly. "It's a little difficult to walk on a leg I'm not used to." "We'll be finished before you get used to it." granny reminded me.

I looked at Winry who had my leg over her left shoulder. "Three days huh? Between machining, assembling, connecting, and finishing, that's three all nighters." she counted with her fingers. "I'm sorry for all the trouble." She turned to me with a smile on her face. "Well, you want to get to Central as soon as possible right? Then I'll work my butt off for you, but you better believe your gonna pay a fortune in rush order fees." She turned and left for her workshop.

I walked over to the kitchen table where Drake just finished cleaning and putting his gun back together. I guessed the Major went outside cause he wasn't at the table anymore. "Hey Drake." He placed his gun back in his pocket and turned to me. "I'm gonna go for a walk, care to join?" He smiled, nodded then began to clean up his mess. I slipped my coat on and went to the door to wait for him. After a minuet, he came back in shorts and a t-shirt that he changed into. We left the house and started walking down the road. Our walk was going slow because even though Drake could walk, he wasn't very fast yet.

"So Ed, how long did Winry say it would take to fix your arm?" I gave a slight moan. "Granny said three days. And they couldn't fix it, so their building a new one." He looked at me with raised eyes. "Three days? To build a whole new arm and attach it? Wow, I am thoroughly impressed with Winrys skills!" I chuckled at that. "Yeah, she is pretty good isn't she? But your the one who impresses me. Three months and your already walking. I don't know whether to call you lucky or a freak." His eye twitched hard. "Ed, I may not have a wrench, but I do have a big gun. Call me that again and I might just use it."

I twitched at the thought of that large gun. "Okay, okay. Sorry. And how about your alchemy?" Drakes brows raised a bit. "Oh yeah, I forgot." He reached into his shoulder pocket and pulled out a few pieces of paper. "I've been reading those books over and over, taking notes and cross checking. And after learning what all of the basic and some advanced symbols meant and do, I came up with this." He handed me one of the notes and I saw the array he had drawn. It was a single circle with a triangle pointing down and two pointing to the lower left and lower right. In the center was the alchemical symbol used to manage metal, slightly morphed to include the symbol that works minerals.

"You came up with this?" I turned from the paper to him and he nodded. "Well, I will say that I'm impressed. But it's a good thing you haven't tried using this yet." He gave me a confused look. "Well, I did say that I wouldn't try anything till I got with you. But why exactly is it a good thing I haven't tried? Isn't a good thing to try it and correct your mistakes?" I turned back to the array. "In most cases that is true, but this one is way too advanced for you to try on your own. I'll explain."

"In an array, the circle is used to control power, this you know. But each array has a certain number of points on the circle, the number of points determines how much power the circle can handle. You follow me so far?" He gave me a nod. "All basic arrays have 5 points, but they mainly consist of working with objects with a single element. More advanced alchemy has 6 points. They are the ones than can use a large amount of elements, or have multiple end objects in a single transmutation. Still with me?" He thought for a minuet with chin in hand. "So, the more points in the circle, the more advanced the transmutation, right?"

"Right. Now here is the problem with your array. It has seven points. Normally, only State Alchemists and alchemy masters work with these. And it's rare to see someone who can use eight point arrays. No offense Drake, but you need a lot more practice with five point and six point arrays before you try something like this. Me and Al are going to be here for three to four days, so I'll help you out as much as I can. But I would like to know what you intended it to do."

He looked back at me. "Well, if it works right, it pulls all traces of metal from the ground or area where the array is used. Then combines it together into a solid metal object. But it only works on metal and similar elements, everything else is left untouched." I looked back at the array. "Well judging by how it looks, it should do just that. Me and Al will do a bit of research on it, just to confirm there isn't something missing or there's something there that don't belong."

"Thanks Ed. So how have you and Al been doing? You never told me what you've been looking for, and I'm not going to ask cause it's not my business, but did you get any leads on where to look next?" He looked down the road with a flat look on his face. "Well we sort of got into a fight in East City with a criminal, and that's why we're all beat up. But now we're on our way to Central, to the main branch library to look into some clues we got from an acquaintance on the way." Drake stared at me with a confused look. "A criminal? No offense, but what kind of criminal can do this to a State Alchemist, and nearly destroy a suit of armor? Just who was this guy?" I turned back to the road. "I really can't go into that, Drake. It's classified. You being a soldier yourself, I'm sure you understand." He nodded then looked down the road as well. "I sure do. I'll drop the subject. But Ed, you need to be a little more careful. Unlike my lucky ass, you only get one life. Don't let it go to waste."

"Drake." I kept staring down the road while he turned to me. "Yeah?" I turned back to him. "We need to finish talking about your situation with the 'gate' and 'Truth'." He just stared at me, brows raised. He looked back down the road. We walked in silence for a moment. "Very well."


	17. What Was Given, And What Was Taken

**The Blade Alchemists**

What Was Given, And What Was Taken

Drake POV

"We need to finish talking about your situation with the 'gate' and 'Truth'." I turned to him and stared. _That's right, I haven't told him about when 'Truth' came to me in my dream._ I turned back to stare down the road. A moment passed before I answered. "Very well. But Ed, this stays between you, me, and Al. Got it?" I turned to him as I said that and he nodded. I turned back to the road. "Sigh. Before my surgery, the night before you and Al left, I had a dream and 'Truth' was there." Ed gasped when I said that. "He explained to me everything he took and what I got in return. He said that I died in my old world and he gave me a second chance, my left leg was the toll for that second chance."

Ed looked at me shocked. "He said you died!? As in...died died!?" I turned to him and gave a slow nod. "It makes sense with the last things I remember from that time. He said I died in the 'explosion', and the last thing I remember was the tanks ammunition compartment on fire. So it must have exploded and I died in that explosion." Eds eyes turned sorrowful as he looked down at the ground. I returned my gaze to the road. "He then explained further. He said that my right leg was taken for the 'knowledge' bestowed upon me. No offense, but seeing as the exact same thing happened to you, but with you left leg, it seems to fit."

A brief silence followed. "None taken. Please continue." Another brief silence. "But then he 'somewhat' explained my loss of feeling. With him saying that, it confirms that I really don't have a sense of touch. He said it was taken, but in return, my 'mental' processing speed was increased." Ed looked at me, brows raised. "What do you mean?" I turned to him. "I asked him the same thing. He said that my learning capabilities, reflexes, motor functions, and even my physical capabilities were enhanced. Still following?" He thought about it a second then nodded.

"The learning part explains how I learned alchemy so fast. The increased motor function and physical capabilities explains my rapid rehabilitation. And the reflexes cause of when I caught Winrys wrench without even looking earlier." Ed placed his chin in his hands, deep in thought. "But there's a problem." Ed turned to me. "And what's that?" I gazed down the road and there was silence for a moment. "Drake, what is it?" Ed asked again. "Sigh. The abilities can kill me." Eds eyes went wide as saucers. "What do you mean!?" I gazed at him.

"The 'Truth' said that my 'superhuman' abilities can kill me if I use them to much. From what I could gather, to put it simple, the capabilities of what my body can 'do' have been improved. But what my body can 'handle' is still the same. If I am not careful, I can push my body way too far and cause internal damage to it. Too much, and my body will eventually shut down on me. Effectively killing me." Ed and I both stared at the ground. We didn't say another word to each other. We kept walking until we arrived at the cemetery.

My body slightly shook as, from what I could guess was, a chill ran down my spine. I stopped walking. _So...this is where Winry found me? This is where I was 'reborn'? It's strange. Dieing in a battlefield, to be reborn in a graveyard. Just so much irony. Pure irony._

Ed noticed that I had stopped because he did as well. "Are you okay Drake?" I looked up the hill at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just me and graveyards don't mix. I'll wait here for ya. Take as long as you need Ed, I understand." He nodded at me and continued to walk of the hill. I saw him stop in front of a single gravestone and he lowered his head. I sat down on the ground next to the front gate and watched the clouds blow by. After a few minuets, I heard Ed walking down the hill towards me. He walked past me and started towards a lone hill in the distance. On top of the hill stood a single tree, and at the base there appeared to be ruins of some sort.

Ed walked up the hill, me following a few feet behind, until we got to the edge of the ruins. It looked like something burned down here. "May I ask what happened here?" Ed stood in silence a moment. "This was our house, me and Als." I silently gasped. "Our mother died from a sickness when we were little kids, after our father abandoned us." I stared at Ed with sorrow in my eyes. "After she died, we left to get alchemy training. When we came back, we tried it. Human Transmutation. We wanted to bring our mother back, but it failed. After I healed from my automail, we decided to find a way to get our original bodies back. So I became a State Alchemist. After I got my certification, we came back…...and burned down our own house. We figured that if we had nowhere to come back to, we had nowhere to go but forward."

I sighed. "Ed..." He looked at me with sorrow in his eyes. "I understand your motives. I can guess what 'Human Transmutation' is. And I understand the motive behind burning down your home. But you are wrong in one thing. You do have a home. You either just choose not to see it, or you are too stupid to see it." I turned to him "You have Winry and granny Pinako. Even if Winry can be a little evil…..let me rephrase that, generally evil, she and granny both love you as family. Because of that, you will always have a home to go to." I sighed again.

"I died Ed. My old family and friends are gone. I will never see them again, and to all accounts, I am dead. So I don't have a family anymore. That is until you, Al, Winry, and granny took me in. Now I have a new family. We may not be the same blood, but we are family. Because family always looks out for each other. So don't say you have nowhere to go. You will always have a place to go Ed." Ed turned to the ground. "Yeah. Thanks Drake. Lets go home." I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, just remember what I said Ed. Lets go." He nodded and we turned towards home. The sun was setting and darkness was falling.

Silence followed us for a while. I turned to Ed. "I know exactly how it feels to lose a loved one Ed." Ed turned to me. I turned to the road and sighed. "Five years ago, my dad and youngest sister drove to town to watch a new movie that recently came out. I was home on leave at the time. On their way back home, a drunk driver smashed into them doing 55 miles an hour, trying to kill himself, while they were at a traffic light. My dad died instantly, as well as the drunk man, but my sister was still barley alive. The doctors took her into the operating room as me and my mom watched them take her away." Ed turned to me and saw a tear run down my face. "She died on that table. She was only twelve years old, and she died." Silence fell on us for a while. "I hated that man! I hated him for taking my family away!"

I lowered my head to stare at the ground, tears running from my eyes. "But that all changed the following week. I was told about the man. And it turned out, he was drinking because his wife and son died during child birth that same day. After that…..I….I just couldn't hate him anymore. I couldn't. In fact…...I came to pity him. I came to pity him for his loss. Yes, my dad and sister died by his hands. But I realized that he had no intention to hurt them. He was just a man lost in his sorrows." Ed turned to the ground and lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry Drake. I really am."

"Don't be. You are not the only one that has lost someone. Everyone has lost someone dear to them. But not all can recover from it. I almost didn't. But you did, twice with the same person. Your mom died and you moved on. You tried to bring her back and failed. You still moved on. Those are the people I admire Ed. People who don't give up. So don't. Don't ever give up Edward Elric." He looked up at me upon hearing his full name. He stared at me for a minuet, then smiled, a bright fire in his eyes. "Right. And the same goes for you." _Oh, you are so mine_ _now_ _!_ I just smirked at him. "Who do you think your talking to Ed? I'm a grown man, while your still just a runt." Eds eye twitched.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SOMEONE WHO'S TOO SMALL TO EVEN TO EAT A WATERMELON BECAUSE HE'S THE SIZE OF AN ANT?!"

"Who does it look like I'm talking to, shortstuff!?"

"YOUR JUST AS SHORT FOR YOUR AGE!"

"True, but at least I don't get blown away by the slightest breeze!"

"OH YEAH!? YOUR NOTHING BUT A FREAK!"

Now my eye twitched, real hard. "THATS IT!" I pulled my gun from my pocket, (don't worry, not loaded, I'm not that stupid, it was just to scare him) pulled the slide back and released it. He saw what I did then began running for his life down the road. "YOUR DEAD EDWARD ELRIC!" I yelled as I begun to chase, slowly, after him. _LOL! I wonder how long until he realizes it's not loaded!_ I slowly chased him all the way back to the house.


	18. Spare Materials

**The Blade Alchemists**

Spare Materials

Drake POV

Who knew that a short kid with a different leg could run so fast. He must have ran too fast cause when I caught up with him a little bit from the house he was doubled over clutching his chest, breathing hysterically. "Holy shit, you run pretty fast, Ed!" He glared up at me with anger in his eyes. "Well you would too if someone was chasing you with a damn cannon!" I just had to laugh at that. "I was only screwing with you Ed. You know damn well I wouldn't shoot you. Winry probably would though." His eyes widened and he nodded quickly. "I'm lucky she don't have one." I happened to to look down and I noticed that my automail legs were a bit scratched on the inside shins. Ed noticed it too. "Make that two of us. I better buff these out before she notices."

We walked up to the front door and walked inside. "We're back." We then see the Major in tears, who then grabbed Ed in a back breaking hug. "Oh, Edward Elric! What an unyielding love to try and bring your mother back to life! What a tremendous sacrifice to give up your arm in order to transmute your brothers disembodied soul! What determination to burn down your own house, to make sure there was no retreat! Come Edward, allow me to offer you this comforting embrace!" he said as he ripped off his shirt.

"JUST STAY BACK! DON'T RUB YOUR CHEST ON ME!" I decided that now was the time to sneak away to my room to fix the scratches on my legs. I managed to sneak past the crowd and into my room. I closed the door behind me and let out a sigh. I looked over and saw my old body armor sitting by the door. _My armor. I had forgotten about that. I wonder if it's still good._ I walk over and pick it up as the front piece tore away from back. The shoulder pieces that held them together had been cut apart. "I guess Winry and granny must have cut it off me not being able to figure out how to take it off." I mumbled under my breath. I pulled open the slots where the bullet proof plates were and a few pieces fell out. _Uh oh._

I slipped one of the plates out and saw that the plates outer layer had cracked and there were pieces of shrapnel embedded in them. I looked closer and saw that the metal interior was undamaged. "Well, the metal plates are okay. But this thing is completely useless as a vest now." I grabbed my helmet that was sitting next to where the vest was and walked over to my bed and sat down. "Well, lets separate everything with alchemy and see what I have to work with." I pulled the other plate out of the vest and set the empty vest on the bed. I drew an array on the floor and placed my plates and helmet in the center.

I heard a knock on the door and told the person to come in. It was Ed, who then walked over to me. "What are you doing?" I looked up at him. "I'm using alchemy to separate all of the materials in my old equipment to see what I can use it for." Ed crouched down and picked up my helmet. "I can see that this is a helmet of some sort, but what are these things on the side?" he asked, pointing at the attached headset. "Unlike most helmets, these are designed for use in a tank. It allows you to talk to the crew and other vehicles through the radio." He nodded and placed it back in the circle. "So why are you breaking it down?"

"Well I really can't use this stuff any more. The helmet is pretty much useless, and the armor is damaged beyond repair, even with alchemy. So I thought that I would make a use of it by turning it into something useful." I placed my hands on the circle and watched the pieces come together, then break apart into two piles, one metal, and the other a hard kevlar cube. Ed picked up the cube and looked at it. "What's this stuff?" I reached behind me and pulled a piece of soft kevlar lining from my vest shell. "It's a hardened form of this stuff." I answered and handed him the liner after he put the cube down. "It's soft and flexible. But what exactly is it?"

"It's called Kevlar. I can't really say exactly what it's made from, cause I really don't remember. But it's a bullet proof material that slows down or catches small caliber bullets. It protects you from knives and stabbing weapons. It also protects you from small explosions by catching the fragments. The hardened stuff is the same, but it's been heat treated, that's why it's harder and heavier. It provides a little more protection that the softer kind." Ed gave me back the lining and I set it back on the bed. "So what do you plan to make out of it?" I thought about it a minuet.

"Hmmm. Not sure yet. But I'll think of something. I might use the metal from the plates to make a pair of swords for myself. The plates have a small amount of depleted uranium embedded in the metal." Ed looked at me puzzled. "What's depleted uranium?" I had to think on that one. "Well it's a safe form of uranium. Uranium is a very strong metal that is used in warheads and bombs because it has other properties as well.. But depleted uranium is where they've taken out all of the hazardous elements to leave only the metal. So it's completely safe. Problem is, is that uranium is a very heavy metal, that's why they only use a trace amount of it in the plates to strengthen them. I behave it's close to 92% steel and 8% DU. That being said, it will make two very durable swords."

"That is one strange world of yours, to use something that's used in bombs in body armor." I frowned and stared at the floor. "You'd be surprised at what people in my world do Ed. Everyday, countries are building more and more deadlier weapons. Most of them kill people by the thousands." Eds eyes grew huge. "By the thousands!?" I slowly nodded. "Before too long, the whole world will be destroyed by the very people that inhabit it. Makes me sick to my stomach. But enough of that. I don't want to discuss this ever again, it's all behind me now." Ed just simply nodded then stood up.

"Well, I'm off to bed. See you in the morning Drake. And good luck with your project." I smiled and nodded. "Thanks, night Ed." He left the room and I turned back to the items on the floor. "I wonder if I can make a bracer with the kevlar." I spoke under breath. I removed the metal from the circle then redrew it for what I needed. Once done, I grabbed a piece of the vest and set it in the circle with the kevlar cube. I pressed my hands to the circle and after it was over, there layed two full length fore arm bracers, and two fabric sleeves. I placed one of bracers over my right arm. There was only enough material to make it cover the full length of the fore arm and go about a third of the way around. The piece of vest I used was turned into a pair of sleeves for the kevlar bracers to slide into, with velcro straps to fasten them on my arms.

I slid the kevlar into the sleeve and fastened it to my arm to check the fit. _Perfect._ They had a little weight to them, but only about 2-3lbs. I took the bracer off and set them both on my bed. After drawing a new circle, I placed the metal in the center. I performed the transmutation and the end result was a matching pair of katanas with two and a half foot blades perfectly curved. I tested their balance on my finger and they were perfectly balanced. (For those who are not familiar with this term, the balance of a bladed weapon determines how easy it is to handle. If the balance is off too much, the blade will be hard to maneuver and use effectively.) "Perfect. Now I just need to make some scabbards for them. I'll get that done tomorrow. But now, time for bed. I placed the katanas under the bed and the bracers on the bedside table.

I looked on my bed and saw the last piece of the vest still sitting there. _Hmm. What do I make with you?_ I decided to figure out what to do with it before I went to bed. "Well, I plan to carry the swords crossed over each other on my back. So I guess I could use this for a harness for that. I drew one more circle on the floor and placed the last piece of fabric in the center. Quick transmutation, and presto, a harness for my swords. "Well, that will do it." I placed the harness with the swords under the bed and turned around. It was then that I realized what I had done. Four chalk circles spread out on the floor from my transmutations. I face palmed myself. "Oops. Winry is going to kill me." I walked out towards the kitchen to go find a mop. _Really didn't think that one through at all._


	19. Let's Spar

**The Blade Alchemists**

Let's Spar

Drake POV

The next couple of days passed by quickly and were the same. Ed would constantly bother Winry, impatient about his new arm. "Ed she's going bust you upside the skull if you don't leave her alone." I told him when she kicked him out after the fifth or sixth time. "Yeah, but it's taking forever." he moaned. "Come on, lets go outside and try out that new array." Yesterday, Ed and Al looked thorough the books he got me and checked the setup of the array over and over. As it turned out, there wasn't anything missing, and there wasn't anything there that didn't belong. However, there was a slight problem. The two triangles that pointed to the lower left and right needed to point to the 'upper' right and left. After fixing the issue that night, Ed agreed to let me try it.

"Now remember Drake, if something goes wrong I'm gonna kick you out of the way before it gets bad." I nodded at him and began to draw the array in the dirt. Once it was done, I looked to Ed for his approval and he gave it. "Okay, here goes nothing." I placed my hands on the array and the blue light began to glow brighter and brighter. I could somehow sense all of the metal in the ground around me being drawn to the circle. It all gathered together and started to take shape. After a minuet, the blue light disappeared and I looked at the circle. In the center was a small metal statue of 'you guessed it' a tank.

"Not bad Drake, not bad at all. I'm amazed it actually worked." I picked up the statue, looked at it a second, then gave it to Ed. "Not bad for a first try, huh?" Ed looked at the statue and then back at me. "Nope, it's actually really good." Al turned to me and spoke up. "So, is that what you fought with in your world?" I smiled and took the statue back from Ed. "Yeah. It's sad that it's used for war, because they are fun as hell to ride in." I gave the statue back to Ed. "You guys can have it. Consider it a gift." Ed face lit up. "Thanks Drake."

Our conversation was broken by Winry running to us with Eds new arm. "Here you go! It's all ready!" she finished with a small chuckle. Ed and me followed her inside while Al waited for us, like he really had much choice. Ed sat down on the couch and the two women began installing the limbs. After a few minuets, they each stuck a tool into a slot on the limb they were working. "Ready?" granny asked. Ed had a face filled with gloom. "Uh, yeah." Granny nodded. "On one,..." Winry gripped the arm tighter. "Two,…." Ed closed his eyes. "Three!" the women spoke and turned the tools at the same time. Eds teeth clinched hard as he almost jumped out of the seat.

 _Wow, does connecting the nerves really hurt that bad!?_ "That's the worst part every time, when the nerves have to connect like that. Once we have the Philosophers Stone, I can kiss that pain goodbye." _Wait, Philosophers Stone? Was is that?_ The women continued to make adjustments to the connections. "Our biggest source of income. I'll be sad to see you go." granny said as she tightened another connection. "Hold still. Do you want me to do this right or not? Winry asked as she tightened yet another connection, causing Ed to jump again. She sighed. "It's just so lovely! The smell of oil! The hum of the ball bearings! The rugged yet amazing form created through anatomical engineering! Sigh. How wonderful you are, my automail!" Ed just stared at her. "Crazy gear head." Winry turned back to him, "Your lost without me, alchemy freak."

"All right, we're done" granny said as Ed began to stretch his new limbs out. Winry explained to Ed the changes in his new arm. But before she could finish, Ed ran out the door. "Al! It's your turn!" he yelled as I followed him. I set a blanket down on the ground while the Major picked Al up and set him on it. We gathered all of the small pieces from the box and set them in front of Al. Ed then explained to me and the Major about Als blood seal. Ed clapped his hands and pressed them to Als body as all the pieces morphed back onto Als body. After Al was fixed, he stood up and flexed all his joints. "There you go, good as new. You ready to try it out?" Al nodded and they both walked to the empty field in front of us. They began fighting each other in hand to hand combat and I watched in aw.

After a few minuets, the match ended with Al throwing Ed over his shoulder onto the ground placing his fist in front of Eds face. "Still can't beat you! But that is going to change one of these days." Ed turned to me. "Hey Drake! Lets see what you got!" _Sure. Why not?_ "Okay. I'll be right back." I ran into the house and up to my room. Unbeknown to Ed, I carved the new metal array into the wrist part of both the bracers. I strapped them on and ran back outside. I had a long sleeve shirt on, so they were hidden. (Thought I would surprise him) I got back to the brothers and took a martial arts fighting stance in front of Ed. "Al, call it!" He nodded and raised his hand above him. "Ready? Fight!" Al yelled as he swung his hand down.

We charged at each other and I started with a kick towards Eds head. He blocked it with his automail arm and grabbed my leg. He swung me around him and I flipped and landed on my feet. He then charged me, trying to punch me with his flesh hand. I caught his fist with my hand, pulled his arm to the side and attempted to return the punch with my other hand. He rolled out of the way and aimed a kick with his metal leg at my side. I was not in the position to dodge it so I lowered my arm to block it with my bracer. His kick ricocheted off of it and he had a split second of shock on his face. "What the..?"

 _Just what I needed!_ While he was still shocked, I turned and pushed his leg out of the way. I charged at him and stopped with my fist a mere inch from his face. Now he was really shocked. "What the hell? That kick would have broken that arm!" I stood up and pulled the sleeve on my shirt down, revealing my kevlar bracer. "My finished 'project'." I said as I smiled at him. He stood up as well. "Hey, that's cheating!" I just smirked at him. "No it's not. It's called being prepared." Al just started laughing. "Admit it brother, he beat you fair and square. Don't blame him for being smart" Ed turned to him. "He did NOT beat me cause he CHEATED!" Now I was laughing. "So you have a 'short' temper, and are a sore loser to boot." Eds eye twitched as Al grabbed him. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL ENOUGH TO DIVE INTO A GLASS OF WATER AND NOT RECEIVE A HEAD INJURY?!"

"Brother! For the hundredth time, that is NOT what he said!" Now I couldn't control myself. I started rolling on the ground laughing my ass off. "All right, fine! Then lets settle this with weapons and see how well you do." I said in between laughing. Ed stopped ranting and had an evil grin on his face. "All right then. What's the weapon?" I stopped laughing and walked to the wood pile. I drew an array and placed two logs on it. Quick transmutation and I had two wooden training swords. I walked back and tossed one to Ed. "First one to land a hit wins." I told him. He nodded, grin still on his face. We took our stances and waited for Al to start the fight.

"Ready?….Fight!" Ed charged first as I held my ground, holding my sword in a high ready stance. He swung at me and I parried, turning around to swing at his back. He ducked right in time and tried to stab me. I brought my sword back around and knocked his blade away with the back side of mine. I returned the stab and he used his metal arm to throw the blade away from target. _Oh, so now he's copying me huh?_ He swung up at me hoping to catch my chin, but I arched back and it flew right passed. With the momentum, I did a back flip to get a little distance between us before I charged back at him. He swung at my mid section as I leaped over him. I rolled once when I hit the ground to end in a kneel and swung at his neck, stopping just as the blade touched his neck.

Neither of us moved for a moment, until he slowly turned back to me and smiled. "Very good. You continue to impress me. I admit, you win this one." I smiled back and all three of us flopped on the ground. Me and Ed were trying to catch our breath as we looked up at the sky. Finally, after our breathing was relaxed I asked. "Ed, what is the Philosophers Stone? It's what you've been looking for, isn't it?" I heard Ed sigh and silence fell on us for a minuet. "Yeah. It holds great alchemical power. Were going to use it to get our bodies back." I took a deep breath and let it out. "So your going on a wild goose chase to find this stone. Your resolve amazes me, Ed."

"Drake," I held my hand up, stopping him. "I know what your going to ask Ed. And the answer is no. I have no need to try and get my legs or my sense of touch back, I'm fine with these. But, I have made a decision." Ed and Al sat up to hear me better. I followed suit and looked at him. "I am coming with you, to help you on your journey."


	20. Start of A New Journey

**The Blade Alchemist**

Start of A New Journey

Edward POV

"I am coming with you, to help you on your journey." he answered. I looked down at the ground for a moment. "Drake, I'm not comfortable with having more company with us. But I can't stop you and if you come I'll get used to it. But you need to really stop and think this over thoroughly. Cause once you start, there is no turning back." I turned back to Drake and he had a bright fire in his eyes. "I have. I've thought about this since you came back Ed. And I've made up my mind. But that's not all."

"Okay, then what is it?" He turned his gaze to the ground and let out a sigh. "I've been talking to Alex, and he told me everything about State Alchemists. I am a military man Ed. The military is all I know. But now I've gotten good at alchemy. So now I want the best of both sides." He turned back to me and glared. "I'm going to take the State Alchemist exam, Ed! I'm going to take it and become a State Alchemist! And you cannot stop me! So now I'm asking you Ed, will you help me?" I turned to the ground and sighed. "Did the Major explain to you everything about the exam? People call me a prodigy, and even I almost failed it. That exam is no joke Drake."

"He explained everything about it, including that the next exam is two weeks from now. I intend to take it then." I stared at him surprised beyond belief. "Are you kidding!? You've only been using alchemy for three months! There is no way in hell you'll pass it! Are you mad!?" He grabbed my shirt collar and pulled me to his face. "I AM WELL AWARE OF THAT ED! But now look back on everything I learned! You explained to me about the number of points on an array! You said that only State Alchemists and alchemy masters can perform seven point arrays!

He released my shirt and continued. "But yet I came up with a new array on my own, a seven point array! And I was able to perform it with no issues!" He looked down and let out a sigh. "I am aware that there is still quite a bit to learn. But does not mean I can't learn it. Your only fifteen years old Ed. Alex told me you took that exam when you were twelve. Twelve Ed! If you can do that, then I can learn what I need to know in two weeks. If not, then there is always next year. But I will admit that I could use help. So I'm asking again Ed, will you help me?"

I continued to watch him as he stared at the ground. I turned to Al who gave me a nod. I turned my gaze to the house and sighed. "I still think you are an idiot Drake. And to be honest, I don't see any way you will pass it. But fate has a way of messing with people. So yes, I will help you." I turned to him and held out my hand. He gave a big smile and took it, giving it a hard shake. "Thank you Ed, Al." I smiled back at him. "But just so you know, if you do fail, I'll call you a freakish failure for the rest of your life." His eye twitched, but he held his composure. "Fine, but if I do pass it, I'll call you runt for the rest of yours. Deal?" Now my eye twitched. "Deal!"

Drake POV

"Boys, dinners ready!" granny called. We concluded our conversation and returned to the house. After dinner, Ed passed out on the couch while I spoke with Winry and granny. "Winry, granny, I'll be leaving with the guys tomorrow." Winry stared at me with worried eyes. "I've decided to help them on their journey. And also, I plan to take the State Alchemist exam. Ed said he would help me study for it, and I'm holding him to it." Granny got up and took her plate to the sink. "So your leaving us then. Well, just keep in mind that you're always welcome here. Like the boys, you don't have a home. So consider this your new home. You'll always be welcome here." I smiled at her. "Thanks granny. And don't worry Winry. I assure you Eds not going to break his automail again." She looked at me with a puzzled stare.

"I've found the one thing that he fears more than your wrench." Granny chuckled. "Oh really? I find that hard to believe. What could he possibly fear more than her wrench?" I pulled out my pistol from my pocket. "This. For some reason, he really thinks I'll shoot him." Everyone laughed at that. The Major spoke up. "Well just by looking at the size of it, I can see why." We all continued to laugh even harder. I got up from the table and bid everyone good night. I returned to my room and changed into some night clothes before climbing into bed and falling asleep.

I was woken up by Al super early in the morning. "Drake. It's time to get up." I looked at my watch, 5:32am. "Ugghh. Why do you guys always leave so damn early? Sigh. Fine, I'm up Al. I'll be down in a minuet." He nodded and left as I got up and changed. I slipped on the sword harness, that had enough fabric left to incorporate a pistol holster, and slid the swords the holders. I strapped on my bracers, that I also modified, and walked downstairs to join in an early breakfast. When Ed saw my weapons, he just stared dumbfounded. "Uh, whats with the getup?" I sat down and grabbed a piece of toast. "You know me Ed, I'm always prepared." He just shook his head.

After the 'quick' breakfast, we all got up and went outside. Once down the stairs, we all turned back to granny and Ed spoke. "Thank you for everything granny." She placed her pipe in her mouth. "Sure." Al turned to the house. "Hey, wheres Winry?" Granny took a draw from her pipe and exhaled. "Resting. She stayed up three nights in a row. Want me to wake her?" Ed started walking, waving her off. "Nah, that's okay. She'd just nag me. Make sure to do your maintenance, or whatever." We all turned and started walking down the road until granny stopped us. "Hold on a second boys." We all turned back to her. "You should come back once in a while and have dinner with us." Me and Al chuckled. "You want us to come all this way into the mountains just for some dinner?" Ed retorted and I turned to him. "Of course she does Ed. Are you really that stupid to ignore great cooking?" Ed glared at me and granny chuckled. "Hey guys," We all looked up to see Winry leaning on the balcony in night clothes, her hair a mess. "Come back soon, okay?" she said waving us off. Ed just waved back and started walking. I waved back as well. "Don't worry guys, me and Al will keep him out of trouble." She smiled, then returned inside.

On the way to the train station, I decided to ask Ed our plans. "So Ed. I know we're heading to Central, but whats the plan when we get there?" Ed turned to me. "Well, first we need to see Colonel flames a lot in East City to enroll you in the exam. You have to speak to a State Alchemist to enroll." I looked at him puzzled. "'Flames a lot'?" Al started chuckling. "Yeah. He's known as the Flame Alchemist, while Ed is known as the Fullmetal Alchemist. The Major is the Strong Arm Alchemist." Now I was even more confused. "I don't get it." The Major jumped in. "Every State Alchemist is given a code name when they earn their certification. The name is based upon your particular skills." I nodded in acknowledgment. "Okay, so I can guess about Eds name, as well as yours Alex. So I'm going to guess that this Colonels ability is focused around fire, correct?" Ed and Al quickly nodded. "Oh yeah. His flame alchemy is almost as bad as Winrys wrench."

 _I don't think I want to meet this guy._ "Well, after we see him, what then?" Ed turned back to the road as we saw the train station come into view. "After that, we're heading to Central, to the Main Branch Library to do some research on the Philosophers Stone. We told you about the clue from an acquaintance. Well the clue is in that library. And we gotta dig around to find out what to do next. Hey Al, can you go get our tickets?" Ed handed him what looked like money, and Al went to the ticket counter. "Now that I think about it, I never learned this worlds currency." I spoke softly to Ed as to not let the Major hear us. "In my world, we use something called dollars. What is it here?" Ed reached back into his wallet and handed me a bill and a few coins. "Their called Cens." I look at money closely, then give it back as Al walked up. "They said the train will be here in an hour brother."

"Okay. Well, we might as well sit somewhere and wait for it."We walked over to a bench and sat down while the Major stood on the platform. "Well, now's the perfect time learn the currency rate for these 'Cens'. So to start, how many Cens does it take to buy what?" Ed began explaining how much certain things cost and the such. We continued until the train finally arrived. "The 7:45 train to East City is now boarding. Please have your tickets available when boarding the train" I heard the announcer call. _Well, I guess my new journey begins here._ We all boarded the train and took a booth. A minuet later, the train began rolling. _Bye granny and Winry. See you again soon._


	21. My Old World, And My New Home

**The Blade Alchemists**

My Old World, And My New Home

Drake POV

I sat on the wooden bench looking out the window, watching the scenery pass by. "So Drake." I turned to Al. "We've never really talked much about were you came from. Can you tell us about your world?" I raised my brow. "Sure, what do you want to know?" Al raised his head and thought about it. "Well how about more about yourself. Do you have family?" I nodded. "Yup. There's my mother, her names Susan, my oldest sister Elizabeth, shes 22 and married to a guy named Carter. Then the annoying brother James whos 19. And my youngest sister Sarah. She would be 17 but she died 5 years ago in a car accident with my dad."

Al lowered his head in sorrow. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push." I waved him off. "It's fine Al. It makes me sad, yes. But they wouldn't want me to dwell on them. And what about you? What about your family?" Al turned back to me. "Our mothers name was Trisha and our dad was Hohenhiem." I saw Eds eye twitch. "I see your dads a sore subject, so I'll leave it be at that. So you have no other siblings?" Al shook his head. "Are you married or have a girlfriend?" I smiled and shook my head. "No. I have had a couple of girlfriends in the past, but they didn't work out. I think it was because of me being in the military."

"About that, can we hear more about it?" Ed jumped in. "Sure. I joined the army a couple weeks after I graduated home school at 17. Been in for 9 years now, or was in for 9 years. I was a Staff Sergeant and was preparing myself to try and make Sergeant First Class, but it's very hard to get that. You have to have a lot of leadership capabilities and knowledge. I've been deployed 4 times and was on my fifth when I ended up here. But before the military, there's not much to tell. My family lived on a farm out in the middle of nowhere and it was a 50 minuet drive to the nearest town. But it didn't bother me."

"Cool. And what about the world you lived in? What are the things that are different than here?" I placed my chin in my hand and had to think. "Well the biggest thing would be that there is no alchemy." Both brothers were shocked at that. "No alchemy? None at all?" Ed asked. "Well, there are mentions of alchemy in history books, and the powers that the alchemy here have match the alchemy recorded in history. But it completely died out sometime during the 12th and 13th century, because it was viewed as witchcraft back then. Everyone at the time were firm believers in God, and the saw that alchemy was the work of the Devil. So anyone that used it or had knowledge of it were taken and burned at the stake, viewed as Devil worshipers."

"But I don't understand. Alchemy is a science. How could they view science as the work of evil?" Ed asked, and I shook my head. "It's really hard to explain it Ed. I don't understand all the religion stuff myself, so I really can't go into it. So lets change the subject, please." Ed thought for a minuet then nodded. "Okay. So what else is different?" I had to think again on what else there was. "Well, now that I think about it. The whole time that I've been here, I have not seen or heard a single plane or helicopter." The brothers had the confused look on their faces again. "Plane?" Al asked. "Heli...what?" Ed followed. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I don't know how this is possible, but I'm gonna guess this world has not discovered flight yet?" The brothers looked at each other then at me. "Well we know what flight is, birds and bugs do it all the time. But what's so different there?" I just moaned silently.

"How should I explain this? To put it simple, a plane and helicopter are man made machines that they can use to fly." Both brothers just stared at me. "Man, fly!?" I just hold back my laughter any more, but I did manage to keep it down to a chuckle. "Yes Ed. Man fly. A plane is a long, hollow, metal tube with large metal wings like a bird. It goes really fast, like I guess about five to six times faster than a train. Because it's going so fast, the wind pushes against the bottom side of the wings and lifts the craft up, causing it to fly. Do you follow me?" Ed had his head down and it looked like he was trying to process everything I told him. "For the most part, but what is a heli….heli..."

"Helicopter. Well like I said, the 'plane' relies on it's forward speed to get the 'lift' it needs. But a helicopter is much much smaller, usually only two to four people, were a plane can carry up to three to four hundred. It's about the size of a car, and has a long, metal blade called a rotor on on top. The rotor spins in circles really really fast. Once the rotors are up to speed, the blades are then angled, sort of like a fan, but it forces the air down lifting the vehicle directly up. So a plane relies on forward speed, and a helicopter relies on rotor speed. You got it?" Ed continued to think for a moment. "Well, yes and no. But my brain is starting to hurt trying to think on it so we'll leave it at that." I laughed silently.

"Okay, sounds good. But I do need to ask, what year is it here?" Al looked at me with the 'invisible' confused stare. "It's June 1914." Now it was my turn to be confused. "1914? In my world it's 2015." The brothers both gasped. Eds brows touched the ceiling again. "2015? No damn wonder you learned how to fly." I started laughing yet again. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you about space." I swear, there was no way Ed and Al could be any more confused. "Space?" they said at the same time. Now I really could help myself, I was laughing so hard that the trains engineer could probably hear me.

"Yes, space. I can't remember exact dates, but sometime in the early 1960s, we sent men to the moon in what was called the 'Apollo Missions'. And it was Apollo 11 that landed the first humans on the surface of the moon." Ed and Als jaws just dropped to the floor. After a minuet, they started laughing hysterically. "Men on the moon!? That's a good one Drake! As if 'planes' and 'heli-whatevers' were bad enough, now it's man on the mood!" Ed squeezed out between laughing fits. I just sat there, dumbfounded. I finally reached over and pounded my left bracer on his head. "Ouch! What was that for!?" I sat back on my bench and crossed my arms. "For laughing at me. But," I turned to the window.

"Comparing all the differences between our worlds, I'm gonna take a guess." I turned back to the brothers. "It seems that here, alchemy has flourished greatly, but technology has fallen way behind. But in my world, alchemy died out, but technology is very highly advanced. But it seems that besides that, they are both the same, except for the difference in the year. But there is one thing I saw that is far more advanced, technology wise, here than my world. Automail." Ed gave me another puzzled look. "You don't have automail there?"

"Well, we do. But it's not called automail. Their just simple prosthetic limbs that are easily placed and removed. Their not connected to the nerves like automail is, they are placed over the stumps. The more advanced ones have sensors embedded in them to allow the user to move basic parts, like elbows or knees. But not like automail, where you have full motion just like the real thing." We all sat in silence for a while, then Al spoke. "May I ask, do you prefer this world over the old one, or would you rather be in your old world?" I didn't answer at first, I just continued to stare out the window. "I'm sorry, I didn't.." I held up my hand silencing him.

"Don't take it the wrong way guys. There are a lot of things from my old world that I miss. The technology that made everything easy, my friends, my family. I miss all of it. But then there's so much here as well. Alchemy," I lifted my leg. "Automail. And now I have new friends, and Winry and granny who I consider family. Hell, you two idiots are my family as well, just the crazy part of it. But, if I had to choose what world to live in…..." I let out a long sigh. "I would honestly choose this one." Ed and Als faces lit up, but also had a hint of sadness in their eyes as well. "Really?" Al spoke. I turned to them and nodded. "This is the world I believe where I fit in more, where I think I belong." Ed smiled, but Al just simply looked at me.

"So if you were given the chance right now, would you go back to your old world?" I looked at Al for a minuet, then turned to the window and thought about what he asked. After a moment passed, I turned back to him. "No. The old world is behind me. This, is my new home." Al chuckled and Ed held out his hand. "Well then, welcome home Drake." I stared at him a moment, smiled, took his hand and Al placed his on top. "Thank you. Glad to be home."

 **Hello everyone. Just some info for ya. This chapter takes place just hours before the start of FMAB episode 7.**

 **As I'm sure you have noticed, this story has only been up for 5 days and there are already 21 chapters. As I said before, I have ADD, so that's why the chapters are short, and I have been posting them so quickly. I have to type them fast before my ADD kicks in and I lose it.**

 **I'm sure some of you believe that my OC is 'overpowered', but this is intentional. Just please be patient and continue reading as it gets better and the OC is 'dulled down' later from story events.**

 **I would love some reviews to learn what you all think so far. Happy reading fellas.**


	22. Enrolling

**The Blade Alchemist**

Enrolling

Drake POV

We finished our talk about our two worlds and I guess I was tired cause I let out a huge yawn. "How long until we get there?" Ed pulled out his watch and checked the time. "About 4 hours. I'm gonna take a nap, can you wake me when we get there Al?" I turned to Al. "Can you wake me as well?" Al gave us both a nod. "Sure." I nodded back, layed down, and tried to find a comfortable spot. Not easy in a small train booth with hard wooden benches. I finally found a 'somewhat' comfort spot and fell asleep. Hours later, I was woken up by Al shaking me. "Drake, we're here." I nodded at him, sat up, and let out a long yawn. "Is Ed awake yet?" Al shook his head and turned to wake him but I stopped him.

"It's okay Al, I'll wake him. But you might want to grab the bags and start running." Al just looked at me. "Okay, but I'm warning you, this is not a good idea." He grabbed our bags and stepped off the train. I leaned over to Ed and shook him vigorously. "Wake up runt!" I yelled and immediately started running. I could hear Ed rant while outside on the platform. "DON'T CALL ME SHORT!" He stormed off the train and ran at me. I simply touched the handle on my pistol and he stopped immediately. "Cheater!" he grumbled. Al turned to me. "When we get to the hotel, you need to leave your weapons behind, we don't want to cause trouble or raise suspicion." I looked at Al. "Sure, no problem. But I will take my pistol with me, it does not leave my sight. I'll just keep it hidden Al." Al slowly nodded. "Okay." he said in a low voice.

We walked through the city for about an hour, people constantly staring at me, until we finally got to the hotel. We walked inside to the front desk where Ed flashed his pocket watch. "Edward Elric, State Alchemist. We need a room for the night sir." The man smiled and grabbed a book from under the desk. "Of course Mr. Elric. Just please sign here and I'll get your room key." The man turned towards the key box while Ed signed the book. The man quickly returned. "Here you go Mr. Elric. Room #204, upstairs, down the hall, to the right. Please enjoy your stay, sir." Ed nodded and we all walked upstairs and to the room. Ed unlocked the door and walked in with us. "There's only one room, but there are two beds. I'll take one and you get the other Drake." Ed told me. "But, what about Al? Where's he going to sleep?" I turned to Al. "Oh don't worry about me Drake. I can't sleep in this body, so I'll just sit on the couch and read."

Now I really felt bad for Al. _He can't sleep? So he just lays there awake all night, every night? I feel so bad for him._ We walked into the bedroom and placed our bags on our beds and I dropped off my equipment, placing my pistol under my coat, then we left the room. We left the hotel and started our walk to Eastern Command. We walked for about twenty minuets before we got to the front gate. Ed again flashed his watch and we continued inside. "So Ed. If I may ask, what's the deal with the watch?" Ed turned to me and let me look at the watch. It was completely silver with a two headed dragon and a transmutation circle on the front. "It's like a badge that shows I'm a State Alchemist. All State Alchemists have one." I gave him back the watch as we continued down a hallway. "That's cool."

Edward POV

We finally got to the door with a plaque that read 'Colonel Roy Mustang'. I heard voices inside and it sounded like they were discussing something important. "Hey Drake, you wait here for a moment. I'll call you when we're ready." He nodded at me and I knocked on the door. Normally I would kick it in, but if they were discussing something important and I scared 'em, Colonel bastard would cook me to a crisp. A second later I heard a muffled "Enter!" I opened the door and walked in with Al right behind me who closed the door. "Fullmetal? I thought you were on your way to Central." the Colonel said sternly. "Yeah, I was. But I needed to talk to you about something first. Do you have a minuet."

The Colonel let out a slight moan then nodded. "What is it Fullmetal?" he said, clearly annoyed. "I've brought a friend of mine who is going to be traveling with us for a while and he wants to speak with you about enrolling for the State Alchemist exam." The Colonels brow rose a bit then immediately fell back. "Is he here now?" I nodded at him and he sighed. "All right, just a minuet." He folded up some maps that were sitting on his desk and placed them in a drawer. "All right, send him in." I nodded then walked to the door and opened it.

Drake POV

I stood out in the hall waiting for Ed to call me in. Minuets passed, then the door opened. "You can come in now Drake." I turned around and followed him into the room. I saw Al sitting on the couch where Ed went and sat next to him. There were three other people in the room. One was a blonde haired man with a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. There was a blonde haired woman with two pistols hanging on her belt in the back. And there was a black, wavy haired man sitting behind the desk, elbows on top with his chin resting on his folded hands. I walked up to him and stood there waiting for him to speak.

"I'm Colonel Roy Mustang." He said in a low but powerful voice. He gestured to the two people beside him. "And these are my subordinates. 1st Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, and 2nd Lieutenant Jean Havok. And you are?" I held out my hand to him. As I did, I noticed Lieutenant Hawkeyes eyes narrow and she moved her hand back slightly. "Drake Samuel Ganters, Colonel. Pleasure to meet you, sir." He took my hand gave it a firm shake. "So tell me, why do you want to become a State Alchemist?" I returned my hand to my side. "Well sir, my grandfather from my mothers side was in the military. He cared for me as my parents died when is was two. I promised him on his deathbed that I would do everything I could to help others. I feel that by joining the military, I can do just that. But I'm also gifted in alchemy, so I thought it best to take the exam and be a State Alchemist." He gave a slight smirk. "Really? May I ask what talents you have?"

"My alchemy is mainly focus on metal and similar elements. But I'm more gifted with using it for combat purposes." His smirk disappeared and his eyes closed. "I see. But I do have one more question for you." I raised my brow. "Yes sir?" He pointed at my chest. "Why did you think it was a good idea for you, a civilian, to bring a firearm into a military headquarters?" I choked a second. _Oh crap. He saw it. And if he did, so did she._ He was still pointing at me. "It was my fathers, sir. I was told he designed firearms in his spare time. He left it to me in his will, so I carry it as a memento. I greatly apologize sir, I had forgotten about it." He continued to stare at me.

"May I take a look at it, please?" It was Lieutenant Hawkeye, who had walked up to me with her hand outstretched. I nodded. "Of course, Lieutenant." I slowly pulled the pistol from under my coat, released the magazine, locked the slide back and handed it to Hawkeye. All three peoples eyes widened after seeing the size of it. "You call that a pistol? The damn thing looks like a cannon!" Havok stated. I pushed a round from the magazine and handed it to him. "Yes, and this is what it fires." Now Havoks eyes were wide as hell. "It looks like a fine weapon, Mr. Ganters. If you have the time, I would like to take you to the range and see it fire for myself." She handed me back the weapon and I placed it back under the coat, not loading it. (Not a good idea to load a gun in front of her.) "Thank you Lieutenant. And I would love that, but am I allowed to?" Havok gave me back the round that I returned back in the mag and placed the mag in my pocket. "Of course, as long as you're with someone."

"All right, enough." the Colonel said sternly and I turned back to him. "All right, Mr. Ganters. I'll place your name on the list for the next exam because you were referred by Fullmetal. The next exam is in thirteen days in Central Headquarters. I hope your ready for this, Mr. Ganters." I nod at him and held my hand out. "Thank you Colonel. I look forward to it." We shook hands again then released them. "Dismissed Fullmetal." He turned to Hawkeye. "You are dismissed as well, Lieutenant. You may escort Mr. Ganters to the firing range if you wish. But don't take to long, I'll need you back here so we may continue our previous business." She snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes sir." She turned to walk away. "Please follow me Mr. Ganters." I turned to Ed as we passed. "I'll see you back at the hotel Ed. Don't wait up for me." He nodded and followed me and Hawkeye out of the room.

 _So, now that my name is on the list, all that is left is to study hard. And I only have thirteen days to do it._ Me and Hawkeye walked down some stairs and up to a door with a plaque that said, 'Shooting Range'.


	23. The Firing Range

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Firing Range

Drake POV

Me and Lieutenant Hawkeye entered the firing range and I grabbed a pair of ear muffs. (Trust me, the this gun is LOUD) Hawkeye grabbed a paper target and clipped it to the conveyer. She held down a switch on the side of the booth that zipped the target down range. She pulled out one of her pistols from the rear holsters and handed it to me. "First, I'd like to see what you've got, Mr. Ganters." I took the gun from her. "Please Lieutenant, just Drake." She smiled at me then crossed her arms. "Alright Drake, then you just call me Riza." I nodded then looked at the target. It was only about 25 meters away. Way too easy.

"Uh, if you don't mind, can you take the target out more?" She nodded then pressed the switch again, stopping the target this time at 50 meters. I looked down the sights and aimed center mass. BANG! I fired the first round to get a feel for the weapon. The round hit just below center. I aimed again. BANG!….BANG!….BANG!….I fired the remaining 11 rounds, placed the weapon on safe, then set it on the table. Riza flipped the switch pulling in the target. When it came back, I saw that all my rounds hit the center with a three inch spread. "Not bad Drake. That's pretty good." I pulled the target off the clip and replaced it with a new one. "Thank you. Now I would like to see how you do."

She flipped the switch, sending the target back out passed the range I shot at. She finally stopped it at around 100 meters, grabbed the gun, loaded a new magazine, and quickly fired all 12 rounds at the target. After firing all her rounds, she set the gun down and pulled the target back. When it did, I couldn't believe my eyes. She had fired all 12 rounds at a 100 meter target with all rounds hitting dead center. The spread was no more than an inch. "Holy shit, you're good. My hats off to you Riza." She took the target off the clip and smiled back. "Thanks. So how about we see your gun in action?" I nodded at her and started looking around.

"What are you looking for?" I grabbed another pair of ear muffs and gave them to her. "First, you WILL need these. And second, do you have any spare metal that we can use as a target?" She nodded and grabbed a piece of ½ inch sheet metal that was sitting in one of the booths. "This was the front shield to that booth, but it needs to be replaced. So we can use this, but why?" I took the metal and strapped it to the wire that the clip was attached to. "Oh, you'll see." I flipped the switch, sending out the metal plate.

I stopped it at mid range, about 150 meters. It was quite far for a pistol, but this is a 50. caliber after all, and the plate was a large target. I pulled out my pistol, locked the slide back, placed a single round into the chamber, then released the slide. "You might want to put your ear muffs on now." I told her, and she did so. I aimed at the plate, took the safety off, and took a deep breath.

…...BANG!

The whole room roared at the sound of the large gun going off. I placed the weapon on safe, and pulled the target back. When it did, Rizas eyes went wide. The round had gone clean through the plate. "Oh my! That's one powerful round." I sent the target right back out and sent it allmost to the end of the range. Round about of 220-230 meters. Oh yeah, that is way, way to far for a pistol. But if anyone can hit it, Riza could. I gave her the gun and one bullet so she could get a feel for it. "I must warn you Riza, even though you can handle a gun very well, this thing has got a LOT of kick to it. So make sure you hold it very tight." She nodded, loaded it, let the slide go, and aimed.

….BANG!

Once again, the room roared, and I was surprised how well she handled the kick. Most people her size can't handle it and the weapon jumps back on then, even hitting some people in the nose. But it didn't jump but a few inches. "Wow, impressive. No offense Riza, but I thought that this thing was going to put you on your ass." She set the weapon down and began pulling the target in to check for a hit. "Thanks, and none taken. Even I'll admit that thing has one hell of a kick behind it." The target reached us and I couldn't believe it. Around 220 meters, and she hit the damn thing, once again bullet going right through. "Riza, you scare me. Your the only person I have ever heard of that could have made that shot." She smiled and handed the gun back to me, which I refused. Instead, I gave her the mag that I pulled the rounds from. "All yours. After all, who knows if you'll ever shoot another weapon like this again. Savor it."

She smiled and sent the target back again. "Drake." I turned to her. "Tell me, what happened to your legs?" I looked back down range and thought a minuet. I produced a fake frown and sighed. "Me and my parents were in an accidental explosion that killed them, and cost me my legs. My grandfather took me in and helped me out. We didn't have any money for automail, so I went twenty-four years without legs. When he passed away, I sold the house and went out to find a good automail engineer. That's where I met Winry, Eds mechanic, and she got me my new legs. And that's how I met the brothers."

Riza just stood there watching me. "I'm sorry Drake. I know losing family is hard." I waved her off. "That is true, but I'm fine. Honest. It's all behind me. Now I just want to move forward." _I hope she bought all that stuff. I can't tell her where exactly I'm from, another world._ "Hmm, good for you Drake." She loaded the gun and fired off the remaining 6 rounds in a quick succession. She flipped the switch and returned the target. Now my jaw dropped to the floor. 220 meters, and every one of the bullets hit, no more that a 5 inch spread.

"I hope to God no one pisses you off Riza." She laughed, then gave back the gun. "I'll take that as a complement." She picked up the empty casings and dropped them in my hand. "Where are you going to get more rounds? I'm pretty sure no one in Amestris sells those." I placed the empty casings and mag in my pocket. "Oh I'll probably refill them myself. I just need to get the supplies." We placed the ear muffs back on the hangers and left the range.

Riza closed the door and we walked back to the entrance of the building. She called a cab for me and told the driver to take me back to the hotel that me and the brothers were staying at. She gave the man enough money to cover the fare, then turned to me. "It was fun Drake. Perhaps we can shoot again. And good luck with the exam." She reached her hand to me and I took it. "Thank you Riza. It was my pleasure. I look forward to it, and thank you." We shook hands and I entered the cab. The car started driving back to the hotel. "Lovely night, huh sir?" I turned to the man. "Yes it is indeed."

After a few minuets, we arrived at the hotel and I went inside and up to the room. When I walked in, Ed was sitting on the couch eating dinner and I saw another plate. "For me?" He turned to me and nodded. "Yup. Dig in." I smiled, walked over, and sat down next to him. I grabbed my plate and looked around. "Hey, where's Al?" Ed just shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Probably picking up strays again." I looked at him puzzled. "Strays?" Ed looked at me with annoyed eyes. "Long story. Don't ask." I just rolled my eyes and started eating. As I finished, Al walked in. "Evening brother." Ed looked up. "Where have you been Al?" 'Meow' Al deadpanned and Ed twitched. I looked at Ed. "Let me guess, strays?" Ed nodded slowly and started chasing Al out of the room. "I TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES AL, NO STRAYS!" Their voices disappearing down the hall. I just sighed and shook my head. "Yup, this is going to be a looonng journey."

I placed the plate back on the table, stood up and stretched. "Well, time for bed. Knowing them, we're most likely leaving early as shit in the morning." I walked into the bedroom and placed my gun on the bedside table. I walked to the restroom and changed to my night clothes and looked in the mirror. I then remembered that I had not shaved in over three months. I had a medium beard and mustache. I face palmed. "I can't believe I spoke to the Colonel with my face looking like this. I better trim it up." I grabbed some scissors off the sink and started trimming my facial hair. After a few minuets, I finished and climbed in bed. I let out a yawn and close my eyes. _Thirteen days, but I don't care. I WILL pass that test._ I layed there as sleep slowly took me.


	24. Getting The Notes

**The Blade Alchemist**

Getting The Notes

Drake POV

We awoke (you guessed it) early as hell the next morning. Me and Ed got changed and grabbed our bags. I decided to take Als advice and not wear my equipment but instead just carry it. We walked to a restaurant next door and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading to the train station. "Sigh. I always found trains fascinating, but now that I know how long they take, I'm starting to change my mind on that thought." Ed and Al chuckled. "Yeah, I feel the same way. And this time the ride is almost a whole day." I glared at him. "Your kidding?" He shook his head and I moaned. "Perfect."

We boarded the train and Ed began to ask me questions that he said might be on the test. He also explained that there were a few questions that required a written essay explaining your answer. "I've never been good at writing essays before, but that will have to change I guess." Ed chuckled. "Yeah. It sucks, and you only get two and a half hours to perform the written portion." I stared at him. "Two and a half hours!? How do they expect you to finish it all?" Ed just looked at me.

"Well to tell you the truth, most people aren't able to finish it. I didn't even finish it all. It's just to see how much you know. They select a certain number of people based on the how many questions they get right and the chosen people go to the next round." I slowly nodded. "I see. Well, lets keep going. Ask away Ed." He continued asking me questions and sometimes I got it right, sometimes not. We kept going thorough the day and halfway into the night. "Yawn. How far to Central?" Ed pulled out his watch and checked the time. "About another seven hours."

"Great. Well I'm gonna get some sleep before we arrive. Night guys." Ed yawned as well. "Same here. But I don't know how I'm gonna sleep now that my butt is numb." I chuckled. "Well, that's one good thing about not being able to feel anything." Ed glared at me. "I hate you." I just smiled. "You'll get over it, baby." Al quickly grabbed Ed and placed a hand over his mouth. Brother, shhh. There are people sleeping." I could hear Ed ranting through Als hand. I chuckled again. "Night guys." I rolled over and fell asleep. "Night Drake." Al answered, Ed still ranting.

We arrived in Central and Ed hailed a cab, or two, cause there wasn't enough room for me, him, Al, and the Major to fit in one. We stopped near the library and got out of the cabs. "Well, finally time for us to get those notes and figure out Marcohs research." Ed said as we turned the corner. "Uh, Ed." I called him. Ed continued blabbing about the notes. "Ed!" Still blabbing. "ED!" He stopped rambling and looked at me. "What!?" I pointed a finger past him and he turned around to see it. The Central 1st Branch Library, completely burned to the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?" We walked up to the ruins. Ed knelt down and picked up a charred book, that fell into pieces after he did. "There's nothing left here but ashes. Everything's gone."

I turned to him. "I'm sorry Ed." Ed stood up. "Major Armstrong!" we heard a woman's voice call out. We all turned around to see two military personnel standing behind us, saluting. "Oh, 2nd Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh. To what do we owe this pleasure?" the Major asked. The two dropped their salute. "You have been ordered to report back to the Command Center, sir." Ross answered. "We'll be taking over the supervision of Edward Elric and his brother, effective immediately." Brosh continued.

"Very well, he's yours." Ed started freaking out. "What is this? Just when I think I'm home free, they saddle me with more bodyguards? This is getting old!" I turned to the officer. "I'm not gonna ask." They both looked at me. "And you are?" I walked up and offered my hand, which Ross took. "Drake Ganters, ma'am. I'm a personal friend of the Elrics and am traveling with them." She nodded. We all walked to the street and got into an extended cab car. Ed and Al sat on one side, me and the two military guys on the other. I was still a bit tired from the train so I decided to catch a quick nap while they all talked about the notes.

After, I guessed about twenty minuets, I woke up as we stopped in front of an apartment complex. We walked inside and stopped at a door with a name tag that read 'Sheska'. _Sheska?_ Ross knocked on the door, but no one answered. After a minuet, Ed opened the door. "Uh, Ed. Isn't this against the….." I stopped talking as all our jaws dropped. Inside the room, all we could see were books, books, books, books, and more books! "Oh wow, there's gotta be a million of them!" Ed said. We then walked inside to try and find this Sheska person. The farther we got, the more books we saw! Every square inch of the place was covered in books! "Is there really someone living in this place?" Brosh spoke. "How in the hell could ANYONE live like this!? Just who the hell IS this person!?" I retorted. Ross called out, "Miss. Sheska, are you here? Miss Sheska?"

We all passed by a small opening, then Al stopped. "Um, brother!" We all turned around to see Al pointing down the opening. We looked and saw a pile of books sitting on the floor. We looked closer and saw a hand sticking out. "THERE'S SOMEBODY UNDER THERE!" We all panicked and started throwing books off the pile in all directions.

"Hurry"

"Dig faster!"

After about 5 minuets of digging, we managed to pry out a small, petite, young woman wearing a dark red sweater, blues jeans, and glasses. "Thank you! I'm so sorry!. I got myself trapped under a whole mountain of books!" She readjusted her glasses. "I thought I was going to suffocate under there! Thank you so much!" Ed pulled a book off his head. "So, are you Sheska?" She looked up. "Yes." "And you worked at the library?" She twitched, and began rambling on about how she loved working there and got fired. Ed had to interrupt her. "Um, excuse me. But there was one thing we wanted to ask you." She stopped her rambling. "Yes?"

"Do you remember seeing any research belonging to Tim Marcoh?" She thought for a minuet and I sighed. "I'll be outside Ed. It's much too crowded in here for me." He waved me off. I walked back the door and stepped outside. _Now 'that', is one weird person!_ I stared out the window and watched the traffic pass by. After about five minuets, everyone walked back outside and closed the door. We started back towards the car. "Just who the hell was that woman!? I've never seen so many books! Did she take the whole damn library home with her when she was fired!?" I asked. Everyone started laughing.

"She must have." Ed answered. "But she did say that she could reproduce the notes we need. But it will take five days." I looked at him. "Five days huh? Well that will give you guys enough time to help me study for the exam." Ed turned to me. "Yup. Sure thing Drake." Now Ross turned to me. "You mean your taking the State Alchemist exam?" I nodded. "Yup. And I intend to pass it too." Al turned to me as well. "Have you thought any on what your going to do for the practicals?" I thought about it for a minuet as we piled into the car to go to the hotel. "Well, I was thinking that because my abilities are focused around fighting, I thought about what if I was to duel someone?" Ed raised a brow. "You could, but you would have to make you own weapons on the spot. Your not allowed to take any weapon with you to the exam."

"Don't worry Ed. Already got that covered. Really, the only thing I'm worried about is the written part. Everything else shouldn't trouble me. But if I choose to duel, do I choose my opponent, or is one chosen for me?" He shook his head. "Don't know to be honest. I personally have never seen a duel during the exams. Who would you choose if you could?" I looked out the window and thought about it. "Hmm, not sure. If I can choose, I'll make the call on the spot." We arrived at the hotel, walked inside, and got a room. We walked into the room while Ross and Brosh stood outside guarding.

For the next five days, Ed and Al beat the hell out of my brain with hundreds and hundreds of questions. Ed even gave me a few mock exams so I could get the feel for it. I may not feel pain, but I know my head was aching. Finally the notes were ready for pickup. We drove back to Sheskas place and I waited in the car. I'm not claustrophobic, but I really did not like how crammed it was in there, so I stayed put. A little while later, Ed, Al, and Brosh came back out carrying stacks of paper in their hands. I just rolled my eyes.

We drove to the library and Ed reserved a room for him and Al to work alone and in peace. I had less than a week till the exams, so I got myself a room as well and began cram studying as much as I could. A couple of times I would wake up with my face in a book. The day before the exams, Ed and Al paused working on their notes to give me one last study session. "All right Drake. Off to bed buddy. Your gonna need the rest, trust me. Me and Al promise to be there for the practicals." I smiled at him and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Ed, Al. For everything." He smiled back. "Not a problem. Now get to bed." I stared at him. "I want to say something so bad right now, but you are right. So I'll let it go this time. Night guys." I left the library and Brosh went with me. "Edward asked me to help you get to and from the exams while you take them sir."

"Please, just Drake. And thank you." We got back to the hotel where I walked to the room, changed, and climbed in bed. _Sigh. Well, it all goes down tomorrow. All I can do is give it all I got and hope for the best._ I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting sleep take me.


	25. The Exam

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Exam

Drake POV

I woke up to a knocking on the front door as I rubbed sleep from my eyes. "Yawn. Just a minuet!" I hollered to the door. I looked at my watch, 7:30am. "Well, at least I got to sleep in a little." I climbed out of bed, walked to the door, and opened it. "Yes?" There stood the hotel desk clerk. "Mr. Ganters, you have a telephone call at the front desk." I yawned again and nodded. "Thank you, I'll be right there." I walked back to the bedroom and quickly changed. "I wonder who it could be?"

Once dressed, I walked to the front desk and the clerk handed me the phone. "Mr. Ganters speaking."

" _Yes, good morning. Is this Mr. Drake Samuel Ganters?"_

"Yes it is. With whom am I speaking?"

" _This is Sergeant Ponter from Central Command sir. I'm calling to give you the time and place for your exam."_

I grabbed a pen and paper. "Go ahead."

" _The exam starts at 10:00 am, sharp. It will be taking place at Central Command in room #308._

"10:00am, #308. Got it. Thank you."

" _Thank you sir. And good luck." Click._

I gave the phone back to the clerk and walked back up to my room. _Okay. I have two hours to grab something to eat, do a quick study, and make it to the exam._ I went to the restroom and got a quick shower and combed my hair. It was starting to get a little long, the back touching down to the middle of my neck. I checked my facial hair and saw it was okay then left the room again. As I walked down the stairs, the clerk called to me again. "Oh, Mr. Ganters. You have another phone call." Walked back to the desk a took the phone. "Mr. Ganters."

"Drake, we're sorry we can't make it to see you off. But we are stuck with these notes right now." It was Al. "Oh don't worry Al. I understand, you don't need to worry about it." I heard the phone rattle on the other end. "Hey, Drake." Now it was Ed. "Don't forget everything we taught you. Just go in there and take it slow." I chuckled. "Only two and a half hours for the test, and your telling me to take it slow? Yeah, okay. Thanks guys. I'll call you when I get back to let you know how I did."

"Sounds good. We'll be waiting." _Click._ I gave the phone back to the clerk and went next door for a good breakfast. While eating, I poured over some last minuet reading to keep my mind prepared. I paid the waitress and started my walk to Central Command, led by Sergeant Brosh. "You ready for this sir, er...Drake?" I smiled and nodded. "As ready as can be. Thanks." He smiled back as we continued to walk. We got to the Command Center and Brosh escorted me in. I walked to the room the exam was in and as I round the corner, I see at least fifty other people waiting outside. _Oh great. Talk about competition._

We all waited for about twenty minuets, then the door opened and there stood a military official. "Good morning gentlemen. Please begin taking your seats. The exam will begin in five minuets." Everyone took their seats, with me a few rows from the front. The door opened again and in walked what appeared to be a middle ranked officer. "Good morning alchemists. Your exams are now being handed to you. Do not open them until you are told to do so. When the time begins, you will have two and a half hours to finish your exam. If you finish beforehand, you may stand up and leave the room. After the time is up, close your exams and leave them on this desk as you leave." My exam was handed to me by the official and I placed it on my desk. "You may begin."

I opened to the first page and the first question was for me to draw a diagram of the periodic table. Again, good thing I paid attention in chemistry. I finished that and continued to answer the questions the best I could. _Ed wasn't kidding. This shit is HARD!_ Finally I came to a question that told me to write an essay to explain my answer. _Perfect._ I started writing. After a while, I heard the buzzer go off. "Time is up, pencils down now. Please place your exams on this desk and leave the room. You will receive a call from someone later, letting you know if you passed to the next round. Thank you."

I looked at my watch, 12:32pm. "Well, time for lunch." I walked down the hall and found Sergeant Brosh. "Afternoon Drake. How did you do?" I just stared at him. "I'm going to kill Ed. He didn't tell me it was that hard." Bross just chuckled. "How about some lunch Drake?" My stomach growled and I nodded. "Hell yeah. I'm starving." We walked to a small cafe and ordered a small lunch. Afterwords, we returned to the hotel and the clerk was waiting for me. "Oh, Mr. Ganters, you received a call while you were out. The person left this message for you." I looked at the paper and there was a call back number with an extension. "Thank you. May I borrow the phone?" He nodded and gave me the phone.

I dialed the number and extension. _"Central Command, Segeant Ponter speaking."_

"Hello Sergeant. This is Mr. Ganters returning your call."

" _Oh yes, Mr. Gatners. I was calling to inform you that you have been selected to proceed to the next portion of the exams. It's at 10:00am in room #260."_

10:00pm, #260. Thank you." and I hung up the phone then dialed Ed and Als number.

"Hello?" I smirked. "Hey Ed. I made it to the next round bud." I could practically see Ed smiling on the other end. "That's great Drake! I'm sorry, but we really can't talk right now. But good luck tomorrow." I smiled. "Thanks Ed." _Click._ "Well, off to bed then. I walked up to my room, changed for bed, and looked in the mirror. _Well, one down. Two to go._ I climbed into bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, I returned to Central Command and walked to the room for the next part of the exam. This time, I only saw about twelve to fifteen people. _Wow, that many were not selected?_ The personnel were called in one at a time, and they were in the room for about fifteen minuets. Finally, my name was called and I entered the room then closed the door. The room was pitch dark except for two things. A slightly lit desk with five military personnel sitting behind it, and a slender chair with three very odd, stubby, weirdly shaped legs. _That's odd, a chair like that shouldn't stand._ "Take a seat alchemist. The world of alchemy is all based on balance. If you have the gift, it will not refuse you." the center man spoke. I walked forward and sat down in the chair perfectly. The man smiled. "Very good. So tell me, Drake Ganters, why do you want to be a State Alchemist?" All five men were watching me very, very closely. I took a deep breath.

"I made a promise to my grandfather, who was in the military, before he died that I would do everything I can to help others. I promised that I would not take my life for granted. I will join the military, State Alchemist or not. But I know my alchemy skills are useful to the military. I want to become a State Alchemist to help people, protect them, and save lives." The men continued to stare at me, and that is when I noticed that the man in the center had some kind of sword sitting next to him.

"Very well, Drake Ganters. You are dismissed. You will be notified of your results." I gave a slight nod, then turned around and left the room. After I closed the door, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I regained myself and me and Brosh returned to the hotel. As I was walking to the stairs, I heard the desk phone ring and the clerk pick it up. "Baskins Hotel." I could slightly hear the voice on the other end. "Yes sir, one moment please. Mr. Ganters, you have a call." I walked up to the desk and took the phone. "Ganters."

" _Evening Mr. Ganters. This is Sergeant Ponter from Central Command. I'm calling to inform you that you were selected to proceed to the final portion of the exams. This portion will take place in the Central Command courtyard. The exam begins at 10:00am."_

"The courtyard at 10am. Thank you." _Click._

I hung up then dialed Ed. "Hello?" "Hey Ed. I made it! The final exam is in the Central Command courtyard at 10:00am." I could hear Ed shouting to Al. "Hey Al! He made it! That's excellent Drake. We'll be there, promise." I chuckled. "Thanks Ed. See you there." _Click._ I hung up the phone and continued back to the room. The next day, Ed and Al met me out front of the hotel and we walked to the exam. "So how are the notes coming Ed?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, their coming. Slow, but coming. And how about you? Nervous?" I slightly nodded. "A little, but I think I know who I'm want to fight." Ed turned to me. "Oh really? Who?" I just smiled. "You'll see."

At the courtyard, there was only me and four others taking this exam now. The trials began and I watched as the other alchemists performed great shows for the examiners. "Next up, Drake Samuel Ganters." a man called. "Good luck." Ed told me. I turned back, smiled, and gave a thumbs up. I stood in the center of the field and looked at the observers. "Good morning, Mr. Ganters. Please proceed and show us your skills." the older man with the sword spoke. "Thank you sir. I apologize, but my alchemy is more based on combat than regular use. Therefor, I would like to challenge someone in a duel." The older man smiled. "I see. Very well. And who is it that you wish to duel?" I pointed straight at him. "You sir."

Everyone gasped, including Ed and Al. "Drake! Are you mad!?" Ed asked me. "I challenge you sir." The man started laughing and the man next to him yelled at me. "Who do you think you are!? How dare you chall…." He was silenced by the old man. "I accept." He walked forward, stopped about twenty-five feet from me, and drew his sword. "But I'll have you know, I may be old, but my skills are far from lax." I nodded, pulled my sleeves back a bit to expose the arrays on my bracers. I pressed my hands to the ground on either side of me, and retrieved a sword from the ground in each hand. I heard everyone gasp again. I picked up a ready fighting stance and waited for the duel to start.

"Fighters ready!?…..Fight!" a man called. The old man charged right at me faster than I could blink. _Holy shit he's fast!_ I parried his sword out of the way and swung at him. But he was just too fast. He rolled to the side I took a stab at me. Like I did with Ed, I used my bracer to block the blade. I swung down at him, he turned and sliced clean through my left sword, cutting the blade of close to the hilt. I discarded the blade and rolled away from his second strike. I did a back flip off my hand, using my array to pull a small knife from the ground as I did. I turned in mid air and threw the knife at him, that he blocked. "Using the metal that's in the ground, huh? That's quite the feat. But I it won't help." He swung at me and he sliced through my second sword. And came at me again, trying to finish me off, but I turned just in time and grabbed his arm.

"Oh really!? Then how about this old man!?" I grabbed his sword with my other hand and took the metal to form a short sword. I turned and swung at him while jumping back. I landed and everything stopped while everyone stared with gaping mouths. I saw that the old mans sword had hit me, but it only ripped through my coat. I looked at him, and saw that his swords blade was cut down to only a few inches long. His uniform jacket had a yellow aiguillette hanging on the right side that was cut off, the piece lying on the ground.

"You used my own weapon against me. That's quite the skill Mr. Ganters." He said as he stood up straight. He returned the busted sword back to it's sheath and placed his hands behind his back. "Very well done. We have found our alchemist." Everyone clapped their hands as I stood straight and saluted him with my sword, swinging it to my side. "I enjoyed the fight sir. I hope we can fight again sometime. You are an excellent opponent." He smiled. "As are you." He turned around and left the field.


	26. Certification And Discovery

**The Blade Alchemist**

Certification And Discovery

Drake POV

That night, Ed, Al and myself went to a local restaurant to have a congratulatory dinner. "Congratulations, Drake! I'm proud of you." I looked at him and smirked. "You talk like your older than me Ed. And I haven't forgotten about the deal we made back in Resembool." Ed looked at me confused. "You know. The one where if I passed, I get to call you 'runt' for the rest of your life, runt." Ed twitched. "You remembered." he growled and I laughed. "Of course. But then, now that I think about it, you did help me quite a lot with studying. So, I'll call the deal off. Me being the winner, I have the right to do that. I won't call you that name, unless you piss me off." Ed just moaned.

"I still can't believe you fought with the Fuhrer. You are such an idiot." I jerked my head back to Ed. "Fuhrer? You mean to tell me that the old man I fought was the Fuhrer!? The leader of this country!?" Ed nodded. "Why the hell didn't you tell me!?" He held his hands up. "I tried to tell you! You're the one who should have told me who you wanted to fight! It's not my fault!" I face palmed. "Great. Now I'm going to be arrested for assaulting the ruler of a country. I am so dead." Ed and Al laughed at that.

We finished dinner and we walked to the library so the brothers could continue working on the notes. "So, what are you going to do now Drake?" Al asked. I shrugged my shoulders. "Not sure. I gotta wait till tomorrow where I'll meet my new commander. After that, who knows. I hope I can stick with you guys." We separated when I got to the hotel and they went on to the library. As I walk in, the clerk called to me. "Oh here he is now sir. Mr. Ganters, you have a phone call." _What is with all the damn phone calls?_ I grabbed the receiver from the clerk. "Ganters"

" _Mr. Ganters, this is Colonel Glacer at Central Command."_

"Yes Colonel. What can I do for you?"

" _I need you to report to me first thing in the morning to discuss your assignment. 9:00am, room #122."_

"Yes sir, Colonel. I'll see you in the morning."

" _See you then. Good night." Click._

 _My assignment huh? I wonder what it is._ I gave the phone back to the clerk and walked upstairs to bed. The next morning, I woke up early to catch a quick breakfast before going to Central Command. I sent Brosh back to the brothers because I knew my way there now. When I get there, I saw Major Armstrong walking out the front gate. "Alex. How you been?" We shook hands, or he more along the lines crushed mine. "Drake! I heard you passed the exam! Congratulations!" I returned my hand to my side. "Thanks Alex. Wish I could talk, but I have to go see Colonel Glacer about my assignment. I'll see you later." We waved at each other and I continued inside. I walked up to the door with a plaque that said, 'Colonel Thomas Glacer'. I knocked and I heard a faint, "Come in."

I walked in, closed the door, and stood in front of the Colonel. "Drake Ganters, sir. You wanted to see me?" He gestured to the couch. "Please take a seat Drake." I did so. "First, congratulations on passing the exam. You have been assigned to Colonel Roy Mustang in Easy City." I thought a minuet. "Isn't that Edward Elrics superior?" Glacer nodded. "Yes. You're being assigned to him as well. He's a friend of mine so I called ahead to inform him. He said to go ahead and give you your papers and watch. He is also assigning you with the Fullmetal Alchemist on his research, so you'll be staying here with him."

He opened a drawer and tossed me the silver pocket watch. "This is your badge of certification. And this," He passed me a finely printed piece of paper. "Is your proof of certification. I looked over the paper and it read as follows.

 _This official document certifies that the nation of Amestris, prefecture of_ _the_ Generalissimo _appoints the name_ _BLADE_ _to_ _Drake Samuel Ganters_ _, in the name of Fuhrer King Bradley._

The State Alchemist shall follow all orders and policies of the military.

A research assessment examination shall be held once every year. In the case that the State Alchemist does not show signs of progress in his research as a result of the examination, he shall be discharged from the services of State Alchemist.

The State Alchemist is entitled to the use of ample research funds, unrestricted access to classified documentation, access to various governmental facilities, and a military rank equal to that of "major".

"Blade huh?" The Colonel nodded. "Yes. When a State Alchemist earns his or her certification, they are also given a code name with it. And the Fuhrer is the one who chooses the name. So according to that paper, your will now be known as The Blade Alchemist." _Blade Alchemist huh? Catchy._ I stood up and saluted the Colonel who returned the salute. "One more thing. You need to go to the State Alchemists office to set up your research fund account. That is all. Dismissed Major." I dropped my salute and left the room. "Well, time to go tell Ed and Al." I walked out the building a hailed a cab.

I arrived at the library and walked to the room Ed and Al were in. When I opened the door, there were notes scattered everywhere. "Uh, bad timing?" Ed looked at me. "Oh no. We're just getting close to done. So what did the commander or whoever say?" I walked up and sat down in a chair next to him. "Well, I'll give you three guesses as to the name they gave me." Ed thought for a minuet. "I really don't wanna guess anything right now or I'll lose my thought on these notes." I chuckled. "Fair enough. I'm now the Blade Alchemist." Ed chuckled too. "It really suits you. And where did they assign you?" I gave him a smirk.

"Now you really HAVE to guess." He thought it over a minuet, then stared at me. "You're kidding?" I shook my head. "They assigned you to Colonel bastard?" I started laughing. "Yup. And he assigned me to help you with your research. I really don't see why you have such a problem with him Ed. He's not that bad." Ed glared at me. "You try being his lap dog for two years, then we'll talk about that." He growled. "Drake!" I turned to see Al walking in with more books. "Hey Al" He walked over and set the books on the table. "So, whats your new name?" I chuckled yet again. "The Blade Alchemist."

"Blade Alchemist? I like it!" I smiled. "Ed, have you eaten?" No answer, his head stuck in a book. "No, Brother really hasn't eaten today. I was about to go get something for him." I held my hand up. "No that's okay. I'll get it Al. Be right back." I stepped out the door and looked at Ross. "I'm running out to the restaurant to grab something for Ed. You guys want anything?" Brosh stood up. "No. But I'll go with you. Major Armstrong said we have to watch you as well, sir." I sighed and started walking. "Okay, suit yourself."

Me and Brosh walked to the restaurant and ordered something for Ed. "By the way sir, congratulations on passing the exam." I sighed again. "I do understand you have to show proper respect and all Brosh. But when no one's around, you can just call me Drake, okay?" He thought a moment. "Okay Drake." After a few minuets, the waitress brought the order out. Brosh paid for it and we started back. "Almost forgot, I need to go to the State Alchemist office for that account. Sorry bout that Brosh, I'll get you back." He smiled and we continued on to the library. When we got back to the room door, the clock tower bell rang 6 o-clock. Ross stood up. "The library's closing soon." she said. Brosh walked to the door. "They've been at it for ten days now. I'm impressed their still going after all this time." he grabbed the door handles and we heard a loud crash. "To hell with it!" We stared at each other for a moment then slowly opened the doors. Inside, we saw all the notes, books, and everything else thrown all over the place. Ed and Al were sitting on the floor staring down, and we walked in.

"What the hell did you guys do to this place?" Brosh asked. "Yeah, now it looks worse than it did earlier." I followed. "Don't get angry because you can't crack it. Throwing things wont help." Ross finished. I set Eds dinner down and started picking up the notes. Their voices drowned out by thought. _Damn Ed. You waited five days to get the notes and spent ten day_ _s_ _trying to figure them out. And now you pull this stunt?_ "The main ingredient for a Philosophers Stone, is human life!" I froze. _What...what did he just say?_ I slowly turned to him. "What?" Ed planted his face in his hand. "In order to make a single stone, you have to make multiple human sacrifices!" I couldn't move, I was so full of shock from hearing what Ed said.

"How could the military authorize research into something so horrible?" Brosh asked, just as shocked. "Yeah, and I just joined this military yesterday. Go figure." I said in a low voice. "I can't believe it! How awful!" Ross ended. There was a moment of silence, then Ed spoke again. "Do us a favor. Don't speak to anyone about this." Brosh tried to interject, but Ed stopped him. "Just pretend you never heard any of of it." Ed stood up and walked out of the room, Al followed and so did Ross. Me and Brosh started picking of the notes and putting books away. Once done, we went back to the hotel.


	27. Break In

**The Blade Alchemist**

Break In

Drake POV

Me and Brosh arrived at the hotel to find Ross in the front lobby. "Where are they?" I asked. She turned to me and saluted. "Their upstairs in their room, sir. I thought it best to leave them be." I returned the salute and walked upstairs while Brosh waited with Ross. I opened the door and all the lights were off. Al was sitting on the floor behind the couch that Ed was laying down on. "Guys?" Neither answered.

I sighed, walked over to the other couch and sat down. None of us spoke a word for a long time. "Ed." He didn't answer. "Ed. Are you okay?" I waited for a minuet and he still didn't answer. "Ed come on. I know your mad, but talk to me man." Eds stomach suddenly growled. Al turned to him. "Brother, you should really get something to eat." _Crap, I forgot his dinner at the library._ "No thanks." I sighed and leaned back on the couch. Silence followed for a moment. "Pretty awful, huh?" Ed spoke. Me and Al nodded in agreement. _What now? What are they going to do now? They've been searching for this 'stone' for a long time, and now they figured out the horrible truth about it. All they want is to get their bodies back. And now after discovering this, they have nowhere to turn._

 **KNOCK! KNOCK!**

"What the hell!?" I bellowed as we all turned to the door. "Elric brothers, I know your in there! Open up! This is the Major!" I stared at the brothers confused as to whats going on. "What do we do?" Al asked slightly afraid. The Major was still pounding on the door. "We ignore him, that's what." I look at Ed. "How the hell do you ignore something like that!?" The door suddenly crashed in and there stood the Major with Ross and Brosh behind him. _Uh oh._ "I know what it said, Edward Elric." We all coward away from him. "How tragic! To think the legend of the Philosophers Stone is built on such a terrible secret!" Ed walked over to Ross and Brosh and death glared them while I face palmed. "Idiots. Just can't keep their traps shut, can they?" The major had tears literally pouring down his face.

"Uh, I'm gonna go get something to eat for me and Ed." I said trying to sneak away. Thankfully, I was able to. I walked to the restaurant and got us some food, then returned. When I entered the room, Ed and the Major were pulling out a map of Central. I handed Ed is food, which was only a sandwich, and sat down next to him. They began discussing about the different alchemy laboratories in Central. I was trying to pay attention as much as possible, but since I had no idea who Marcoh was, and was still learning some things, it made it a little hard. "Here." Ed pointed his finger at a building on the map. "What's this building used for?" Ed turned to Ross. She explained that the building was supposed to be for a fifth lab, but that the building was abandoned due to it's weak structure.

"It's there." I turned to him. "How are you sure about that Ed? The building's closed down." Ed slid his finger over to the next building. "There's a prison right next door." _Okay, now I'm really getting confused._ Brosh walked up. "Okay, so?" "What was the main ingredient for a Philosophers Stone?" I thought about it a sec. _Oh shit._ "I see what your getting at. Using the prisoners on death row for the ingredients, then recording them as executed. So much for human rights." I spoke up. We continued discussing about the laboratory for while more, then the Major rolled up the map and stood up. He told us about this becoming a political nightmare, and I agreed. He told us not to speak to anyone about the matter then turned to the brothers.

"And you, Elric brothers, behave yourselves! Same as you, Drake!" _What? Why are you looking at me?_ They gave a look of shock. That set the Major off. He started yelling at them about not sneaking off. It ended with the brothers pleading that they wouldn't. After that, the Major, Ross, and Brosh left. I looked at the brothers, Ed had a smirk on his face. "Don't tell me, your sneaking out?" Ed held a finger to his lips. "Shhh. Quiet you idiot. Don't let them hear you. You coming?" I thought it over a minuet, then gave in. "Hell with it. Someone has to keep you out of trouble." Ed tied the bed sheets into a rope and slid it out the window. _Classic._ Ed went first, then Al, then me.

We ran in the direction of the lab and after about twenty minuets we arrived at the corner near the gate. It was guarded by a soldier. "A guard posted at an unused building. Interesting." We backed away from the corner. "That is suspicious." Al confirmed. We decided that it was a bad idea to use alchemy due to the light giving our presence away. So, we decided to hop the wall, the twenty foot tall wall. Al boosted Ed up high and he caught the barbed wire on top. He pulled it off the brace and lowered it down to us. I climbed onto Als back while he scaled the wall. We jumped down onto the other side and started looking for a way in.

We ran around until we found the door that was completely barred shut. "Their not taking any chances, are they?" Ed stated. I looked around and I noticed a small vent. "Hey Ed, over here." We walked to it and Al stopped under it. Ed climbed on top of him and pulled the grate off. "Al, you need to wait here." He climbed inside while I climbed on Al where Ed was. "You're fine on your own?" Ed crawled forward and I saw how small it was. It was going to be a very tight squeeze. "I don't think that's that issue Al. Sorry but you're too big to fit in here." I climbed into the vent behind Ed.

Unknown POV

 _It's dark, and cold. Where has everyone gone? What is going on? No one has come to torture me._ I coward in the back of the cage that I was locked into as I heard footsteps coming my way. _Here they come, to torture me again. Please, I just wanna die, please. Let me die._ I looked to the doorway as the footsteps got louder. Finally, I saw three figures almost walk by, but they stopped when they saw me. "Ooohh, looks like someone got left behind. Can I cut it up?" the smaller one asked. I recognized that voice, he was one of the guards. "No, the scientists will be back for it soon enough. Leave it be, we have guests to tend to." The tallest one spoke, another one of the guards. "Aww, come on forty-eight. Let me cut it up, just a little at least?"

The middle sized one tapped his fist on the small ones head. "Knock it off sixty-six, forty-eight said no. Like he said, we have guests to take care of. And if you hurt that thing, then we'll really be in for it." Sixty-six knocked his hand away. "Oh shut up seventeen! I've had enough of you. If it wasn't for orders, I'd cut you up myself!" Seventeen walked away. "Like you could anyway." "Shut up, the both of you! Now lets go!" The three men walked away and I could hear their footsteps disappear down the hall. I pulled my knees to my chest and started crying. I sat there, alone, in the dark room, locked in that cage. Just waiting for death to finally come to me after these many, many long years of torture. _Please, please. Someone, please, just kill me. I don't want to live anymore. I_ _just_ _want to die!_

Alphonse POV

After boosting Ed and Drake into the vent, I started to look around to find another way in. I walked around the building, staying away from the front gate as not to be seen by the guard, but found nothing. I started back for the vent that Ed and Drake went in and I heard a noise. I quickly turned around, but saw nothing. "Hmm, must be my imagination." I continued walking back, but a few minuets later I heard the sound again. Again, I turned around, nothing. "Who's there?" called silently, but got no answer.

I waited a minuet, but I didn't hear anything else. I once again started walking and sure enough, I heard the sound again and turned around. "Brother? Drake? If this is a joke, it's NOT funny." No answer. I was starting to get a little scared. After a while, I decided to run back to the vent in case something tried to attack me. I finally got there and never heard the sound again.

Drake POV

I was following about ten feet behind Ed so we didn't get stuck on each other. "Man this is tight." I said to Ed. "Yeah. It's even tighter in here than I thought." he answered. "Yeah, you wouldn't have made it this far if you were regular sized." Ed tensed up. "The only reason I'm not saying anything is cause we need to be quiet, freak." My eye twitched. "I told you not to call me that!" I said as I slammed my fist on the vent floor. When I did, the vent under me collapsed and sent me tumbling to the ground below. "Drake, are you okay?"

Dust was scattered around from when I landed. "Cough cough, yeah cough, I'm fine." I looked up and saw there was no way I was going to get back up into the vent, and because of the tight space, Ed couldn't turn around. "What now Drake?" I looked around and saw a long hallway with doors on either side. "It looks like there's a bunch of offices down here. I'll check around here, you go on ahead. We'll meet up outside. Good luck, Ed" "Yeah, you too. Be careful, Drake." I nodded and started walking down the hall.


	28. Laboratory Clash

**The Blade Alchemist**

Laboratory Clash

Edward POV

"Yeah, you too. Be careful Drake." I looked back down the vent and continued crawling down the tight space. After about five minuets, I saw an opening in the vent floor. I pushed the grate off and hopped out of the vent. When I stood up, I saw that the floor panel lights were on. "The lights are on. 'Not currently in use'? Who are they trying to fool? This is it alright." I walked down the hall until I came to a large, open room with a small pedestal in the center. As I walk in, I see a large transmutation circle on the floor with blood on it. "What is all this? I bet this is what they used to transmute a Philosophers Stone."

"Yes, that's right." I quickly looked to where the voice was coming from. "I don't know who you are kid, but you sure figured out a lot just from looking at a transmutation circle." I could now see a guy in a suit of armor walking from the shadows. "I'm just good like that. Who are you pal?" He kept walking towards me. "The one in charge of guarding this place from curious brats. For the moment lets just say my name is number forty-eight."

Alphonse POV

I stood near the vent, waiting for Ed and Drake to come back. "Ed and Drake are taking a long time." Suddenly, I heard the sound again, but it came from above me. I quickly look up to see a guy in a suit of armor dropping down on me, swinging a meat cleaver. I jumped out of the way and he came at me trying to stab me. I jumped back again to get some distance between us. "You move pretty well for your size. If you didn't though, it wouldn't be worth the effort to cut you down." I got into a fighting stance. "Who are you?" He just looked at me. "I'm number sixty-six. Well, that's the name they gave me when I came to work here anyway." He crossed his blades together. "I'm going to cut you up nice, and neat."

Drake POV

I walked down the hall, taking a minuet in each room to look around. After the eighth room, I sighed. "Just how big is this place?" ….. "Big enough for your grave." I bolted around to see a figure at the end of the hall walking towards me, he was holding two small axes. "Cute, and may I ask who you are?" He started laughing. "What the hell does it matter to you? It doesn't make any difference whether I tell you my name or not. Because either way, I'm going to kill you here, and now." He kept walking towards me as I pulled my swords from their sheaths and took my fighting stance. "Hmm, interesting. You see, I like to know the names of people that I have to end up killing." He stopped and just laughed harder. "I see. Very well, I'll play your game. My name is number seventeen, and you are?" I smiled "The Blade Alchemist, Drake Ganters. And now that that's out of the way, lets get this over with!" I charged at him. "Fine by me!"

He swung at me with both axes and I blocked with my left sword and struck him with my right. 'DONG' _What? What the hell…_ He swung at me again and nicked my cheek. I was having a hard time fighting him in this narrow hallway. He swung again and I blocked it, bringing down my other sword across his hand, cutting the glove off. I saw no blood, or hand, or arm. I saw...nothing. "What the….?" In my quick shock, he swung hard and hit my left sword, breaking it in half. I dropped it, keeping mental note of where, and continued the fight.

"Your hollow, aren't you?" I asked between strikes and blows. "I'm impressed, you figured that out quickly didn't you? But no matter. Even with out a hand, you're still dead!" I blocked his ax above my head and he was slightly overpowering me. I smiled. "Think again." I took my left hand off the sword, and slid my arm across his ax blade, cutting off the fabric covering the array on my bracer. I pressed my hand to his chest plate and used the array to reform his metal body. It must have damaged his blood seal, because after the transmutation, he just dropped to the floor.

"It's lucky for me that you were hollow my friend. If you weren't, I wouldn't have been able to do that. Not with a living body inside. But I will say this though, you were quite the fighter. I really enjoyed that fight." I turned around and walked to were I discarded my broken sword and picked it up. "Hmm. I guess it's not quite as strong as I thought. It's probably better to meld all the DU into just one sword." I placed both swords on the ground and used the array to fuse the weapons together into one. "There we go. A little heavier, but still okay." I placed the sword in the right sheath and continued looking around.

Unknown POV

I could hear what sounded like people yelling at each other down the hall. I recognized one as being one of the guards. I could also hear what sounded like clashes of metal on metal. I was scared, but slightly glad. _Maybe there's someone who can kill me and end my suffering. I just hope he finds me before the guys in the white coats do. But...what if he's one of them? What if he's coming to do more tests on me? Not again, no! I just want to die!_ I heard the footsteps get closer, then stop. A minuet later they would get closer and stop again. _Oh no. He's looking for me! Not the tests! Please, no!_ The footsteps finally came to my room and I saw a figure in the light from the hall. He looked into the room a second, "Nothing here either" he said, then started to walk away when he stopped and looked at me. _Oh no! He saw me! Not the tests! Please, not more tests!_ He started walking towards me. _Please, NO!_

Drake POV

I walked into the room and looked around. "Nothing here." I turned back and walked to the next room. I looked inside and saw an operating table, plenty of surgical tools _,_ and a bunch of empty cages. "Nothing here either." I turned to walk to the next room and movement caught my eye. I turned back to the room and saw a figure sitting in one of the cages, cowering in the back shaking. I walked inside towards the cage and I could now see that it was a human. When I got to the cage, that's when I saw that it was a young woman with long, brown hair. She was wearing torn, ragged, patients rags. She was clutching her knees to her chest, clearly terrified.

"Miss, are you okay?" She just sat there shaking at the back of the cage. "Miss?" She said nothing, she just sat there. "Hold on ma'am, I'm gonna get you outta there." I pressed my hand to the cage, and morphed the lock away. The cage opened with a loud squeak. I held out my hand to her and she tried to cower even further into the cage. "Miss, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm trying to help. Will you let me?" Her shaking started to slow down a little, but didn't stop. I smiled at her and finally, her shaking stopped. "It's okay miss, take your time. But we need to leave, we can't stay here."

She looked at my hand, then back at me. For a minuet, she didn't move an inch. Finally, she slowly lifted her hand from her knee and held it close to my hand. "It's okay miss, I'm going to get you outta here." She stared at me and very slowly nodded. She set her hand in mine and I immediately saw that her hand was very, very boney. She slowly crawled out of the cage and tried to stand, but she immediately fell to the ground. With the little light that came from the hallway, I saw that she was absolutely nothing but skin and bones.

"It's okay, lets get outta here and get you something to eat, shall we?" She slowly nodded. "Good. And I'm sorry maam, but since you can't walk right now, would you mind if I carried you?" She stared at me and slowly shook her head. "Uh, I'll take that as a yes." I placed my arms behind her back and under her knees and picked her up. _She is just so light. She need to eat something soon._ I stood up with her in my arms and we left the room. I walked to the end of the hall and looked left. I saw a set of stairs and I began walking to them. Once there, I saw they go up and end at some kind of door with a chain on the handles.

I walked up, knelt down, and pressed my hand to the chain. The chain broke apart and I stood back up. I pushed open the door, walked through and saw that I was now inside….. the prison next door!? So this is how they transported the prisoners! I quickly ran to the wall, and set the woman down. "Just one minuet miss." I pulled a knife from under my bracer and carved a transmutation circle in the wall. I could have used my watch to get passed the guards, but I didn't want them to see the woman. There was just….something...telling me to keep her hidden. Once done I pressed my hands on the array.

The wall melted away to reveal a small hole. I carried the woman outside and drew another circle to morph the wall back. After that, I placed my knife back under the bracer and picked the woman back up. "We're heading to my place. You'll be safe there." She looked at me and nodded, then passed out. "Miss? Miss!? Are you okay? Miss!? Shit!" I started running back to the hotel to wait on the brothers.


	29. Strange Woman

**The Blade Alchemist**

Strange Woman

Drake POV

I ran back to the hotel, the woman in my arms, as fast as I could. When we finally arrived, I peeked inside the lobby to see if anyone was in there. _All clear._ I ran up the stairs and into the room. I walked into the bedroom, turned on the light, and layed her on the bed. I saw that she had blood on her face, so I went to the restroom and grabbed a wet washcloth. As I wiped her face off, I saw that her hair was a tangled mess and sprawled out around her head. But that was not what caught my attention. There was something sticking out through her hair from the sides of her head.

I pushed her hair back and was shocked to see a pair of, what looked like,….dog ears? I reached over and touched them, and they twitched when I did. "What the….." Her 'ears' twitched again and she rolled over. "Uh, okay….that's….odd." And as if that wasn't enough, when she rolled over I caught a glimpse of something that was the same color as the 'ears' by her legs. _Let me guess…_ I moved a piece of her ragged clothes away from her leg and, sure enough, there was a 'tail' as well. "What in the world is she? What the hell happened to her?"

As I spoke, she turned back around and slowly opened her eyes. She stared at me, and I at her. Then realization hit her as she backed away into the wall trying to get away from me. I held my hands up trying to calm her down. "Shhh, it's okay miss. Remember me? I'm the one that got you out of that lab. It's okay, no ones going to hurt you. Your safe." She started to calm down as I lowered my hands. "Please, calm down miss. There's nothing to be scared of here." After a minuet, she finally relaxed, but stayed close to the wall. I held out my hand to her. "My name is Drake maam. May I ask what your name is?" She just looked at me. "Miss, can you understand me?" She slowly nodded and took my hand. "Can you speak?" She shook her head and grabbed her throat.

"Okay then, we'll work on that. Are you hungry?" She quickly nodded, and moved her hand from throat to stomach. "Okay then. Come on." I stood up and beckoned for her to do the same. After a minuet, she finally got off the bed and stood up. I grabbed my spare clothes from my bag. "Okay, follow me a second." For a second, she didn't move, but finally started walking slowly. I walked her over to the restroom and nudged her inside. "I'll go get you some food. While I'm out, you take a nice, long shower. Here are some clothes you can use until we can get some for you in the morning." I handed her the spare clothes and closed the door. "I'll be right back miss."

I walked out front of the hotel, and over to a late night cafe. I ordered some really strong coffee and a dinner for two. After a minuet, the waitress handed me the order and I returned to the hotel, up to the room. I opened the door and I could hear the shower still running. "Wow, I guess she really did take a long one." I set the food on the table, walked to the restroom door, and knocked. "Miss, are you okay in there? Knock on the wall once for yes, and twice for no." After a minuet, I heard two sheepish knocks. "Miss, may I come in and check on you?" Again, there was a moments silence before she knocked once. "Okay miss. I'm coming in."

I turned the knob and slowly opened the door. The shower was running with the curtain open, but no one was there. I walked in and saw her sitting on the floor across from the shower cowering. "Miss, please don't take this the wrong way, but did the shower scare you or burn you?" She nodded and pulled her knees closer to her chest. _Okay, how am I going to handle this one? She needs to get cleaned up, but she's afraid of the shower._ "Sigh. Okay miss. I know this is going to be really weird, but would you like some help getting cleaned up?" She thought about it, then slowly nodded. I held my hand out to her, she took it, and I pulled her to her feet. "Okay, I'll stay behind you and help you out miss. Just don't turn around, okay." She nodded again and turned her back to me. "Sigh. Okay, here we go."

After about twenty minuets, she was finally done with her shower and I helped her into the spare clothes. I walked her out of the restroom and set her on the couch. "Here you go miss." I handed her a plate of food and she began to tear the food apart. "Woah woah! Slow down miss! You're going to choke! Slow down!" She nodded and did so, as I took a sip from my coffee. "So, miss." She looked up at me with a piece of toast hanging out her mouth. "Do you have a name?" She looked back at her plate, started crying and shook her head. "I see. Well, would you like me to give you one then?" She looked back at me, smiled, and nodded. "There's that smile. Very well." I thought it over for a few minuets as she stared at me.

"Hmmm. How about….Jessica?" She closed her eyes, smiled again and nodded quickly. "You like that name?" She nodded again. "Okay then. Your name will be Jessica. I already said it before, but my name is Drake." I held my hand out, she took it, and shook it. "Jes….Jess...Jess...i...ca." She slowly spoke. I gave a huge smile. "Yes, Jessica." She giggled, looked at me, and pointed. "Dr...Dra...ke?" I chuckled. "Yup, that's me." She continued eating and we sat in silence a moment.

"Jessica." She looked back at me. "Sorry, but I need to know. Do you know how you came to be in that lab?" She thought for a minuet, then grabbed her throat. "Ta...ken….Ba…..by." I was shocked a moment. "You were taken as a baby?" She nodded and started to cry. "Hurrrrrt…..mmmeee. Cha….channnge…..mee…." Now I was on the verge of tears with anger fuming in me. "They hurt you and changed you?" I asked as I pointed to her 'ears'. She grabbed them and nodded. "I see. Well, you don't have to worry Jessica, or would you prefer Jessy for short?" She was still holding her 'ears', she smirked and nodded. "Yeess."

"Okay Jessy. You have no need to worry. Those men are not going to hurt you anymore. You stay here and finish dinner, I have to go make a phone call." She frowned and tears started to fall from her eyes. "Do you not want me to leave?" She quickly shook and lowered her head. "Okay. I can wait a bit to make the call. For now, why don't you try and get some sleep." She looked at me with worry in her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to leave." We stood up and I walked her to the bed. She layed down and I sat in the chair next to her and rested my hands on the rests. _Might as well get a little sleep myself._

I tilted my head back and closed my eyes, but a second later my body moved. I opened my eyes to find that she had my hand clutched in hers, holding it close to her chest. I slightly blushed. "Donnn't….leeeavvve…..mmmeeeee...pleeeeaaasse." I felt so horrible for her, to be afraid of being left alone. "Don't worry. I won't, I promise." She released my hand and I began to stroke her hair. I watched as her eyes slowly closed and she drifted to sleep. I smiled, tilted my head back, and fell asleep myself.

A few hours later, I woke up and opened my eyes. I looked at my watch, 2:24pm. _Damn. I slept through half the day!?_ I looked around the room hoping Ed and Al were back, but no one was there. I looked over at Jessy and I immediately blushed. She was asleep, sitting up and leaning on me. She had her arms wrapped around my right one in a death grip. _Uh, okay. This is awkward. But….I do enjoy it._ I smiled at her and nudged her awake. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Her gaze finally landed on me, she smiled, and nudged into my shoulder more.

Now I was really blushing. "Um, Jessy." She looked back up at me. "I have to go make that call now. Can you trust me to leave you for only a few minuets?" She frowned and looked down a moment, then returned her gaze and nodded. "I promise, I'm only going to use the phone and come back. Okay?" She nodded again then hesitantly let go of my arm. I stood up and stretched. "I'll be right back Jess." She was clutching a pillow. I left the room and walked to the front desk. I asked the clerk for the phone, and dialed the number for the hospital. _If they are not back here, they might be there,_ _knowing Ed_ _._

" _Good afternoon. Central Hospital."_

"Afternoon. This is State Alchemist Drake Ganters. I'm calling to see if you have a patient by the name of Edward Elric checked in there."

" _One moment please._ There was a short silence. _"Yes sir. We do have a patient checked in by that name. He is able to receive calls, would you like to be_ _transferred_ _?_

"Yes please."

" _One moment sir."_ Another short silence. _"Hello?"_

"Ed! It's Drake!"

" _Drake!? What the hell happened!? We thought you were killed in the explosion!"_

"Explosion? Never mind that, I'm fine. Listen, sorry I didn't find you, but I ran into a big problem there and had to leave immediately. I need you to send Al back to the hotel, I'll fill him in on it and he can tell you. I can't discuss it over the phone, and I can't leave right now."

" _Okay, he's on his way. And Drake, I'm glad you're okay."_

"Same here Ed. I'll call again soon. Bye."

I gave the phone back to the clerk and returned to the room. As I walked in I saw that Jess had not moved even a single inch, still clutching that pillow. I closed the door, walked to the bedroom and sat on the couch. When I did, Jess immediately got off the bed, sat down next to me, and snuggled into my side, causing me to turn beat red. "Uh….Jess." She just looked at me, smiled, and snuggled even more. I let out a sigh and let the matter go. _I think that this is going to be a problem._


	30. Mine

**The Blade Alchemist**

Mine

Drake POV

Me and Jess sat there on the couch, waiting for Al to arrive. "Um, Jess" She looked up at me with a smile on her face. "Yeess?" Her answer sounded just to awkward for the way she was clinging to me. "Uh, I understand you're scared, but you don't have to hold onto me so hard." She shook her head at me and continued to snuggle. "Miinne." I froze. _Did she just say what I think she said?_ "Uh, Jess." She looked at me again. "What do you mean by 'yours'?" I could see her grip on my arm tighten. "Yoouu...miiinne." _Yeah...she did. And I hope she doesn't mean what I think she does._

There was a knock on the door and her grip tightened as much as she could. There was no way she was going to let go. "Uh, who is it?" Jess was starting to cry. "It's Al. Are you okay Drake." She was really starting to break down now. I patted her head. "Yeah, come in. But do it nice and slow Al." I heard the door open and close. As Al slowly walked into the room, Jess was going crazy and trying to cower behind me. "Um, Drake. Who is that?" I just looked at him. "Long story. Just don't move for a minuet so I can calm her down." I turned to her and started stroking her hair. "Jess, Jess. It's okay. He's a friend. He's not going to hurt you. I promise." She stopped jumping around me and looked at Al. "Fr….fri,,,friend?"

"Yes, friend. He won't hurt you. I promise you. He's just a little scary looking. No offense Al." Al waved me off and watched her. Now she had calm down and was looking Al over. She slowly held her hand out to him. "Jesssiicaa" Al slowly walked forward and gently took her hand. "I'm Alphonse, Jessica. Pleased to meet you." She immediately snatched her hand away from his and grabbed tighter onto me. "Miinne!" I blushed and face palmed. "Hers? Whats hers?" I just glared at Al. "Another long story. But for some reason, she thinks that 'I' belong to 'her'."

"You belong to her? What does that mean?" I lowered and shook my head. "I really have no idea Al." Al walked closer. "Hey Drake, your face is cut." He leaned down to look at it and Jess slapped his hand away. "Mine!" Al was shocked and I moaned. "Thank god Ed is not here. He would have a field day with this. And Jess." She was still glaring at Al with mean eyes, then she looked at me. "I know you can't talk well, but you NEED to explain what you mean but me being 'yours'." She looked at me and smiled. "Yoouu..saavve..mmee. Yoouu...taakke...caarre...mmee. Yoouu….miine. Yoouu….mmaaatte."

At that, I froze, Al started laughing hysterically and my face turned to a red that would put tomatoes to shame. _WHA..WHA...WHAT!? DID SHE JUST CALL ME HER MATE!? WHAT THE HELL!?_ Al was still laughing his head off and I death glared him. "I SWEAR ON MY LIFE, IF SAY ANY OF THIS TO ED, I WILL KILL YOU AL!" Al was still laughing. "ALPHONSE!" He held his hand up. "Okay…...okay." He continued to laugh. "I….I won't. I'm sorry, I can't help it!" Jess could see I was upset at Al, so she let go of me, leaped off the couch, and started attacking Al.

"Jess! What the….!" Al was rolling around trying to get her off. I ran over to them and pulled her off of Al. "Jess! What the hell are you doing!?" She finally calmed back down and stood between me and Al. "What in the world Drake!? Her temper is worse than brothers! And I didn't think that was possible!" I looked at Jess, then at Al, who had scratches all over his cheat plate. I just couldn't help it, I started laughing and a minuet later, Jess did too. "Sorry Al. Guess that's what happens when you piss off a wolf." Al stared at me a minuet.

"Wolf?" It was at this time that Al noticed Jessys 'ears'. "Wait! You don't mean she's a chimera do you?" I stopped laughing and looked at him puzzled. "What's a chimera?" Al stood up and held his hands up, trying to hold off Jess from attacking him again. "Perhaps we should sit down. We both have a lot to discuss." We all sat down on the couches with, you guessed it, Jess clinging on to me, snuggling my side. Al explained to me what chimeras were, and told me about a little girl he and Ed knew that was turned into one.

"I'm sorry Al. I feel bad for you two." Al nodded then looked at Jess, who was glaring at him. "Yeah. But, what about her. She still looks completely human, except for the ears." She bared her teeth and gave a low growl. "I really don't know. Her ears look like that of a wolf, and so does her tail." Al looked at me. "She has a tail too?" I nodded. "Yeah. Going off of what you told me and the fact that she was in that lab for over twenty years, I'm guessing the scientists somehow mixed her with a wolf. That would explain her behavior towards me and you. Wolves are very, very protective of there…...mates." I blushed again. "That would explain why she attacked you. I'm guessing that she is human on the inside, but has the instincts of a wolf. But now here is the question. Why has she labeled me as her…..'mate'?"

Al turned to her. "I don't know. What exactly did you do?" I thought about it a sec. "Nothing really." I explained last nights events of after we returned to the hotel. "I see. So, you took care of her and protected her, right?" I nodded. "I don't know all that much about wolves. But I do know that a female will take the male that protects her the most as her mate." I face palmed. "Great. Just great." Jess turned to me and tears came to her eyes. "Yoou...noo...waann't….mmee?" She started crying and I didn't know what to say. _What do I say? I don't hate her, but I don't really know her to have any relationship with her._ She continued to stare at me with her yellow eyes, another wolf trait. _Sigh. I have no choice._

"Of course I do Jess. I just wasn't really ready for a mate yet." I could see out the corner of my eyes that Al was staring at me with I could tell a suggestive look. "Not. A. Word. Alphonse. Elric." He chuckled at me and held his hands up. "I won't. I'll let Ed see it for himself. I'm not going to spoil the surprise of your engagement." He started laughing again. "Al! This is your final warning!" He looked at me, but kept laughing. I looked at Jess. "Jess.." She looked at me with slight anger in her eyes. I looked at Al and he froze when I pointed at him. "Kill."

She jumped off me and landed on Al, clawing and scratching his armor. "Drake! Get her off! Get her off!" I started laughing. "Say your sorry Al." She was really laying into him. "Ok ok ok! I'm sorry! I'm SORRY!" I shook my head. "Okay Jess, you can stop." She jumped off him and snuggled into me again. She glared at him and he froze again. "MINE!" Al held his hands up. "Okay. He's yours. Just please don't attack me again." Al got back up and sat back down on the couch, Jess watching his every move. "Jess." She looked at me. "Do not worry. He's a friend. He's not going to 'steal' me." She turned and smiled at Al. "Okay"

"Now, to the urgent matter. What do we do about her Al. Ed is not going to like her coming with us. And I promised her she would be safe. But since it's the military that did this to her, they are going to want her back if they see she's alive." Al thought for a moment. "As much as Ed is going to hate it, she is just gonna have to go with us. If we leave her somewhere, someone will notice her ears and tail. They'll turn her in right away. At least with us, she will be safe. And we can talk to Colonel Mustang about it." We sat in silence for a while. "Al. Are you sure, absolutely sure, we can trust him with this matter?" Al nodded. "He is very stern, but he is also very trustworthy."

"Sigh. Okay Al. I'll trust you on this. I'm really not that comfortable with this 'mate' stuff yet, but we'll see what happens. But first, me and her are going to Winrys so she can get better. She's in no shape for constant travel. You go on and tell Ed about her and what happened at the lab. I'm gonna call Colonel Mustang and tell him about her and ask for some leave." Al interrupted me. Winry is on her way here. Ed damaged his automail again so she's coming to fix it." I nodded. "Not a problem. I don't see that she'll mind. But I swear to you, not a single word on this 'mate' business to Ed. Understood." Jess glared at Al and he backed up. "Yes. I understand. Not a word." He and I both stood up, Jess still clinging. "Thanks Al. And say hi to Winry for me."

"Why don't I send her here?" I shook my head. "Won't be here. I'm leaving in the morning before she gets here. I have to leave now because of what happened last night. Before long, people will wonder about her." Al nodded. "Okay. I'll say hello for you. Have a safe trip Drake." He turned to Jess who was just looking at him. "And you too Jess." She smiled and gave Al a hug. "Bye." Al hugged her back and left the room. I sat back down on the couch and sighed. Jess sat next to me but didn't cling. I noticed and looked at her. "You okay?" She frowned and looked down. "I...aamm…..soorrry."

"For what?" She looked back at me. "I...trouble." I smiled and ruffled her hair. "No your not. Like I said, I'm not used to this 'mate' stuff Jess." She smiled and leaned on me, but didn't cling. I tilted my head back and looked at the fan. _Sigh. Your 'mate' huh. Dad is probably laughing his ass of at me from the grave. And mom would just kill me for being the 'mate' of a wolf. But….as weird and sudden as it is….I really do like it._


	31. About Jess

**The Blade Alchemist**

About Jess

Jess POV

"I'll back shortly Jess. I gotta get some clothes for you. Just don't leave the room, okay?" I was so scared that he wouldn't come back, or those men would find me and take me away. But I have to be brave, for him. "O..okay." He smiled at me and left the room. I sat on the bed and waited for a while. I got up and went to the restroom for 'business'. Once finished, I looked in the mirror. _So this is what I look like. I've never seen myself before._ I turned my head side to side, looking at every angel. I saw my wolfs ears and I reached for them. I ruffled them with my fingers then dropped my hands. I looked closer at my dark, yellow eyes. After a minuet, I stepped away from the mirror and went back to the bedroom.

I walked up to the window slid the curtains back just an inch to look outside. There were people everywhere, and strange, boxes on wheels, passing by. I looked at the buildings and saw that there were a lot of them. I closed the curtains and walked to the bed. My mates scent was on a bag on the floor by the bed. I opened it and saw some clothes, a couple of books, and... _whats this?_ I pulled out some strange, metal, elbow shaped….thing. It was a silver color that I could see my reflection in. On one side was a large hole that looked like something went into. On the other end was another hole, but smaller.

I held it to my nose and it smelled awful, like chemicals or something. I continued to look at it for a minuet, then tried to see into the small hole. "JESS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I snapped my head to the sound. There was my 'mate' with bags in each hand running towards me. I dropped the object and backed away. "Soorrry." He grabbed the object and put it in his pocket. "Jess, you never touch that! It can kill you!." I lowered my head and tears came to my eyes. Sniff. "Soorry." He knelt down, put a hand on my shoulder, and lifted my chin up.

"Jess. That thing is a weapon that kills. If it was loaded, you would have died. Never touch it again, okay?" Tears fell from my eyes and I nodded. "Okay." Sniff. He sat down and pulled me into a hug. Neither of us said anything for a minuet. "I'm sorry Jess. It's my fault too. I forgot I left it my bag. It's part my fault." He pulled me away and looked into my eyes. "Promise me you'll never touch it again, at least until I show you how to use it. Promise?" I nodded. "Prommmisse." He smiled "Okay, then." He then stood up.

"So how about you try on these new clothes?" I smiled and stood up. He handed me the bags and I started to change. "Uh, wait Jess." I looked at him and he pointed to the restroom. "If you don't mind, please change in there." I looked at the restroom door, then at him puzzled. "Buut...wwee...mmaatess." I objected. "We may be 'mates', but we are not married or anything. So it's not right. Please, for me?" I lowered my head and nodded. I walked to the restroom and closed the door.

 _Does he not want me? I know was wrong for touching his metal object but, does he hate me?_ I got undressed and shifted through the bag for the clothes I liked. I ended up choosing loose legged, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt with a black, sleeveless vest over it. Before I pulled on the shirt tho, my 'mate' knocked on the door, opened it a little, and handed me a long piece of stretchy fabric. "Whaat...thiiiisss?" He closed the door. "Uh..How do I explain this? I didn't know your chest size so I couldn't get you a bra. Sorry, but that will have to work for now."

I looked at it and smiled. "Thannk..you." I slipped the 'sleeve over my breasts, then the shirt and vest. I pulled on the underwear, then jeans. Perfect fit, but my tail stuck out. Oh well, my 'mate' won't mind. I opened the door and walked out. My 'mate was sitting on the couch looking at a book. I walked in front of him and he looked up. "Very pretty, Jess. But, one issue." I cocked my head to the side. He stood up, walked around and showed me my tail. I blushed when he touched it. "Your tail. It needs to be hidden. I doubt that people will see it and not report it. That's why I got loose legged clothes, so you could tuck it in."

He saw me blush, then he released my tail. "Uh..sorry." I smiled and grabbed him in a hug. "It..okay...What..mine..iss...yourrss." Now he blushed. "Um, okay." I looked up, and his face was only an inch away from mine. Now I blushed again. _Why am I blushing? He's my mate. We're already together, aren't we?_ Our faces very slowly got closer to each other. I could feel his breath on my skin. His lips getting closer….closer…

 **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Drake POV

The knocking took us out of our trance and I reached into my pocket that I put my gun in. "Who is it?" There was a brief silence. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. I'm a close friend of the Elrics. I came to meet you and congratulate you." I Sighed. "One minuet sir." I turned to Jess. "Go hide in the restroom, and do not come out or make any noise. I don't want him to find you." She nodded, walked into the restroom and closed the door. "Coming."

I opened the door and let the Lieutenant Colonel in. "Good afternoon sir. How may I help you?" He waved me off. "Oh, no need for that. Your a friend of the Elrics, so that makes you my friend to." I smiled and nodded. "I see. Oh damn. I'm sorry." I held out my hand. "Drake Ganters, sir. The Blade Alchemist." He took my hand and shook it. "Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes. Pleasure." I shook my head. "Oh no, sir. The pleasure is all mine. But I do have to apologize sir." He raised a brow. "For?" I placed my hand behind my head. "I have an early train tomorrow sir. I'm heading out to visit some old friends of mine. I was just about to go to bed. My apologies sir." He again waved me off. "No need. Next time then. But still, congratulations on the exam." I nodded. "Thank you sir. Next time I'm in Central, I'll buy you dinner." We shook hands again. "I look forward to it, Drake. Hope to see you again soon. Bye." He left and I closed the door.

Sigh. _Such a nice guy. I really wouldn't mind talking with him, but I have to worry about Jess being found out. No matter, I'll catch him when I get back._ "Okay Jess, all clear." She opened the restroom door and ran to me, arms wrapped around me in a hug. "Hey Jess, you hungry?" She looked up at me and smiled. "Yes." I smiled back. "Okay. I'll go get us some food. Be right back Jess." I walked out the door and down the stairs. I was about to leave until the clerk stopped me. "Apologies sir, but you have a phone call." I walked up to the desk and took the phone. "Ganters."

" _Blade, it's Colonel Mustang."_

"Yes sir. I apologize for not calling you but something kinda….got in the way."

" _It's fine. Alphonse already filled me in on your, 'mate', problem."_ I twitched. _I am going to to KILL YOU ALPHONSE!_

"Um, yes sir. So what are your orders about this?"

" _Continue with your plan. Your leave is approved under emergency reasons. But you will call me when you settle in and tell me everything."_

"Yes sir. And thank you."

" _Unlike Fullmetal, you actually have a head on your shoulders. So consider this a gift."_

"Yes sir."

" _That is all." Click._

I gave the phone back to the clerk and left the hotel for the restaurant. _If I see you again Al, I'm going to send Jess after you and never call her off!_ I walked into the restaurant and ordered some steaks and soda. As I waited for the food to come out, I looked at the window to my room. _Were we really about to….kiss? I've only known her for one day! But...I feel something. I don't have a sense of touch, but…...I can still feel it. Is this…..love?_ "Here you go sir." I took the bags, gave the waiter the money, and walked back towards the hotel.

 _I've had girlfriends before but…..I never felt the same with them as I do her. I don't understand. I can't be in love, not in just one day. She calls me her 'mate', and that is weird as hell. But….why do I enjoy it? Am I really in love with her? And even if I am, wouldn't it be wrong? She's part wolf, even if it's not her fault. I...I just don't know anymore._ I got to the hotel and walked up to the room. When I opened the door, I saw Jess laying on the couch asleep. I set the food down on the table and nudged her awake. "Hey. Foods here. Wanna eat?" She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Yes." She said then yawned. I gave her a plate, sat down next to her, and grabbed mine.

We ate in silence, then changed for bed, again she tried to change in front of me. She climbed into my bed and closed her eyes. I smiled, then walked to the other one and layed down. I turned towards the wall and closed my eyes. A second later, I heard footsteps. I turned to see where Jess was going, but found her in bed next to me, holding me in a hug. I blushed. "I..scarrred." I waited a moment and she clutched me tighter. "Pleeasse?" I sighed, then smiled. "Yeah. Okay." She smiled, then snuggled into me. I rolled onto my back and put my arm around her shoulders. I couldn't feel it, but I know my heart was racing. "Goood….nnniiight….Drake." I looked at her, smiled, then layed my head back down. "Goodnight, Jess." I looked at the ceiling, sleep slowly taking me. _I feel it. I don't know how, but I feel it. A pain in my chest. Is it because she's with me? Is this love?_ I slowly lost sight of the ceiling as my eyes closed and sleep took me.


	32. Back Home

**The Blade Alchemist**

Back Home

Drake POV

I woke up to knocking on the door. "Mr. Ganters. Its the manager. I'm waking you up as requested, sir." I yawned and looked at my watch. 1:22am, Huh? "I asked for a 6:00 wake up." There was a brief silence. "Um, sir. It is 6:00." _What?_ I pulled my pants up and looked at my State Alchemist watch. 6:00am. _Shit. The battery died._ "Okay, sorry bout that. Thank you." I tried to sit up, but I found Jess laying on top of me. I blushed. _So awkward._ I nudged her awake, and she sat up to rub sleep from her eyes. I got out of bed and went to the restroom to change. When I walk out, Jess was on the bed stretching the same way dogs do. I pinched my nose and sighed.

She climbed off the bed and started changing in front of me again. "Sigh. Jess." She glared at me. "No!" I sighed again and turned around. _Is she in a bad mood, or is she just sticking up for herself?_ She finished and we packed up. I gave Jess a hat for her ears, but she refused it and tied a bandanna around them instead. It was as we were leaving, that I noticed Eds bag was still here. I grabbed it and we walked to the front desk. I gave the bag to the clerk. "I need you to call the Central Hospital. Ask for Edward or Alphonse Elric. Tell them about the bag, and they will come get it. And I need to close out the room as well." The clerk took the bag and pulled out a large book. "Very well, sir. Please sign here." I did so. "Thank you. I will make the call now, sir. Please have a safe trip." I nodded, then we left.

We arrived at the train station and I walked to the ticket counter. "I need two tickets to Resembool, please." The teller wrote down in his book, then stamped two tickets and gave them to me. "Here you are, sir. The train is arriving now. Have a pleasant trip." I nodded again and we walked to the platform. A few minuets later, the train pulled in and stopped. We boarded and took the booth at the very back of the train. "All aboard! 7:30 train to East City for follow on to Resembool now leaving!" The engineer yelled. The train jolted, then left the station.

Jess was like a little kid in a state fair, watching the scenery go by. After a while, she left the window, walked across, sat next to me, and snuggled into my shoulder. I just watched her. _This feeling again. The pain in my chest. Why? Why am I feeling this way? Am I really in love?_ My thought s were interrupted be her snoring. I chuckled. "Just like a wolf. But at least she doesn't snore like Ed." I looked out the window and watched the scenery. I happened to notice my watch on my wrist. _Oh yeah. That's right. The battery died. Oh well, I don't need it._ I pulled down the window, took off the watch, and tossed it out.

When we finally arrived in Resembool, we started the long walk up to Winry and grannys house. I looked over and Jess was rubbing her butt. "Owwwwwwww." _Wow. I guess those seats really do hurt._ After we got about halfway, Jess started slowing down, until she sat on the ground. "Are you okay, Jess?" She rubbed her legs. "Tiiirrred." I sighed. "Okay. Come here." I knelt down and told her to climb on my back. She wrapped her hands around my neck and legs around my side. I wrapped my arms around her legs and grabbed the bags. I stood up and continued to walk. "Thank you." I looked at her and smiled. "Your talking is getting better. I'm proud." She smiled back.

We finally got to the house and normally Den would bark at anyone coming down the road. But this time he didn't. He just walked up to us and looked at Jess, and Jess looked at her. "Mine!" she yelled, and Den took off into the house. "Oh den. What has gotten into you?" I know that voice all too well. Granny walked to the porch and saw us. "Well well. I honestly wasn't expecting you back so soon. Welcome home Drake." She looked past me at Jess, who stared at her. "Jess, be nice. I mean it!" I whispered, and she nodded. "And who is this may I ask." I set Jess down and we walked over to granny.

"Granny, this is Jess. Jess, this is granny." Jess looked at her a minuet, them smiled. "Heeellllo." She gently grabbed my arm. "Mine." Granny just stared at her, confused. "I'm sorry granny. It's uh, a long story. Shall we go inside and I'll explain?" She looked at Jess for a moment longer then nodded. "Of course. I'll put on some tea." We all walked into the house and memories started to come back to me. "So, how have you been Drake? Did you take the State Alchemist exam?" I smiled and pulled out my watch. "Yup. And passed, thanks to Ed. But it would have never been if not for you and Winry giving me back my legs." Granny just smiled at me. "No need to thank me Drake. Please sit down, the tea is ready."

We sat down and granny poured us all cups of tea. Den walked in and Jess growled when she came near me. "Mine!" Now granny was completely confused. "I'm sorry granny. Jess. I told you to be nice!" She lowered her head. "Sorry." I sighed and turned to granny. I explained all I could, without giving secret info to her. I got to the part of finding Jess and taking her to the hotel. I reached over and pulled Jess's bandanna off her head, letting her wolf ears come out. Granny stared, but didn't gasp. She looked down. "It's a shame what the military has done to this girl. And now she can't live a normal life anymore." I turned back to granny.

"Your wrong." Granny and Jess stared at me. "True, she will never be able to go in public without people staring at her. True, that because of her 'animal' self, she will never be 'normal'. But nonetheless, she is still human, like you and me. And, like you, and me, she can find a new life. It may not be an average life, or a great life, but it is a life, nonetheless." Granny continued to stare at me for a while, then smiled. "And there's the Drake I know." She turned to Jess. "You listen to him Jess. You may be what a lot of people nowadays call a freak." I twitched. "But you are still human. Remember that." Jess looked at her a minuet, then nodded. Granny turned to me. "But one more thing Drake." I looked at her, then she turned to Jess. "Why does she keep calling you hers?" I twitched again.

I explained to granny about Jess being part wolf and she claimed me as her 'mate'. Granny just laughed. "Please stop laughing granny." She stopped then turned to me. "I'm sorry. But I have been around for many years, Drake. I know plenty about wolves. And if she really is part wolf, and she has claimed you as her 'mate', then your stuck with her." She started chuckling, I blushed. Jess grabbed me and glared at granny. "Jess, no!" She lowered her glare. "And that proves it Drake. You're the only one she'll listen to now." Granny hopped off the chair and stood up. "Well, I'll get dinner ready. But Drake." I looked at her.

"Make sure she knows not to attack Den. I know how hostile wolves are against other females." I chuckled. "I will granny." Granny started working on supper. "Well, go ahead and get you twos room ready. I know that putting you two in separate rooms is pointless, so I'm not going to try." I moaned. "Yes granny." I left the table and walked up the stairs, by memory, to my old room. Nothing has changed. I set my bag on the bed and plopped down on it. Jess sat down next to me.

"Drake?" I turned my head towards her. "Yeah." She frowned and lowered her head. "I soorry. Buut...doog...waanteed….neearrr...you." I chuckled and smiled. "It's okay Jess." I let out a sigh as Jess layed down next to me. I looked at her and saw a tear fall from her eye. "What's wrong, Jess?" She turned her head away. "You no want me." I sighed and used my hand to turn her head back. "Why do you say that?" More tears fell from her face. "I try prrooteect you. You sstoop me. You no want me." I sighed again and sat up. "Jess." She looked at me, still crying. "I understand that your wolf side is telling you to protect me. But you are going too far. You need to control your wolf side and trust me. You call me your mate, but there is way I can say the same when you are pushing everything away from me. You need to learn to trust me Jess. And I'm sorry, but until you learn to trust me, I can't call you my mate."

I stood up and started to walk away, but Jess grabbed my arm. I looked at her to see tears flowing from her eyes. "I sorry….I'm sorry….I'm sorry. Please don't leave me." I turned to her. "I wiilll….I wiill….I will trruust you. I'm sorry." I walked back to her and wrapped her in a hug, as she cried into my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I rubbed her head and ears. "It's okay Jess. I'm sorry too." We sat there for a while and just held each other. I didn't see her, but granny was standing in the hall near the door. She had heard everything. She smiled, then walked downstairs to finish dinner. "Those two fools. I hope they enjoy their life together."


	33. What Is Love

**The Blade Alchemist**

What Is Love

Jess POV

Me and Drake continued to sit on the bed while he held me. Tears were flowing from my eyes. _I don't want to lose him. I want to be with him forever. But I can't help but protect him. My insides keep telling me to protect him. I said that I would stop being so protective, but why does he not want me to protect him?_ "Guys, dinner is ready!" Drake pushed my shoulders back and looked me in the eyes. "Look Jess. I know your wolf side is telling you to protect me. But just try not to be 'so' protective. Okay?" I slowly nodded, and he smiled. "Okay. Now lets go eat, shall we?" I wiped my tears away and smiled. "Yes."

We slid off the bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen. I saw that dog standing by the table watching me. I barred my teeth and gave a slight growl. But when I looked up at Drake, and saw him watching me with a raised brow, I stopped. The dog walked up to me and sniffed my hand. I slowly placed me hand on her head and ruffled her ears. After a minuet, the dog walked away and layed down by the couch, and went to sleep. "Thank you, Jess." I looked at my mate, and he was smiling at me. I smiled back and hugged his arm.

While we ate, granny asked Drake about me and what he intended to do with me. I looked at him, curious to the answer as well. "Well, as embarrassing and odd that the 'mate' thing is to me, I promised that I would protect her. So that is what I'm going to do." I smiled as did granny. "And when it comes to the 'mate' matter, what do you plan to do about that?" I just sat and watched my mate, waiting for the answer. He looked at me for a second, then sighed.

"I really don't know what to do about this 'mate' stuff, but..." Me and granny both just watched him. "It's embarrassing to say this around her but, you know me granny. You know that I can't feel pain or anything after what happened." Granny lowered her head. _Wait, what? Can't feel anything? What does he mean? And what did happen to him?_ "I can't feel anything, but...when I'm around her, like now, I..." There was a brief silence. "I do feel something. A pain in my chest. I can't explain how, but I feel it. It feels like….somethings missing." Granny looked at Drake, smiled, then turned to me. "Do you feel the same pain, Jess?" I lowered my head. _Now that I think about it, I have felt the same thing. On that day, w_ _hen_ _our faces were s_ _o_ _close to each other. I felt something hurting in my chest._ I looked at granny and slowly nodded.

She chuckled, got up, and took her plate to the sink. "So I'm going to guess that you've never been in love before, Drake, Jess?" Me and Drake both blushed. "Whaat...loovve?" She looked at me and frowned. "I'm sorry Jess. I almost forgot where you've been for your whole life. But, to put it simple, love is where you truly care for a special someone. Where you want to be with no one else but that person. Sort of like your 'mate' claim, but much, much deeper." I lowered my head and felt tears coming to my eyes. _Love? Is that what that feeling was back then? Was I feeling that way because I 'loved' him?_ "Well Drake?" granny asked.

My mate sighed and closed his eyes. "No. To be honest, I've never really been in love. I've had feelings before, but nothing like this. Is this truly love?" I looked at granny, who smiled, then nodded. "I see." Drake stood up and took his plate to the sink, I followed. He started to walk out of the kitchen, but stopped. "Thanks granny." He continued to walk upstairs and I followed behind him. "One minuet, Jess." I turned back to granny. "May I speak with you a minuet?" I thought about it for a second, then nodded. She motioned me to sit, and I did. "Yes?" Granny sat down in the chair across from me. "And what about you Jess? Do you feel the same way?" I blushed and lowered my head. _I'm blushing again. He's my mate, so why am I blushing when I think about him._ "It's okay. Take your time." I nodded then looked at her.

"I doo feel weeirrd. Drake my mate, but I do feel diffferrennnt to himm." Granny smiled and nodded. "You feel like something is missing, don't you?" I thought about it then nodded. "And you only feel it towards him, right?" I nodded again. "Yes. When I near him, cheesst hurt." Granny grabbed a long tube and lit something at the end of it. "Then, my dear." She placed the other end of the tube in her mouth, inhaled, and let out some smoke. "You are in love with him. And judging by what he said earlier, he's in love with you." I blushed again. "But, he my mate. I shoould allreadyy love him." Granny drew from her tube again.

"Dear, claiming someone as a 'mate', and truly loving them are two completely different things. You claimed him as your mate, but that just means that he belongs to 'you'. True love, means that you belong to each other. He belongs to you, and you belong to him." Tears came to my eyes. I understood everything she said. It hurt me to think that I took him as mine, but I wasn't his as well. "Yes graanny." She got up, walked to me, and placed her hand on my leg. "Don't worry about it dear. If you truly love him, then go tell him. Tell him how you truly feel."

"Yes, granny." With that, she left the kitchen and walked to the porch. I sat at the table crying. _What have I done? I took him as mine, but I wasn't his too. I hurt him. She says that he loves me, but how could he? How could he after what I did?_ I sat there in silence for a while. After some time, I got up and walked upstairs. I got to the bedroom door and knocked. "Come in." I took a deep breath, walked in, and sat on the bed next to Drake. "Drake." He was reading, but stopped and looked at me. "Yes?" I felt tears coming to my eyes. "I'm sorry." Drake closed his book and sat up. "For what?" The tears started falling down my face. "I took you as mine. You were mine, and I no think about you." I clenched my teeth. "You were mine, but I was no yours." We sat in silence a minuet. "I..I…..I don't want you as mate no more. I...I want to be yours too." I started crying.

Drake sighed, then got up. He started to walk to the door, but stopped. "It's a nice evening. Lets go for a walk, Jess." He held out his hand to me and I slowly took it. We walked downstairs and left the house down the road. We walked in silence for while, until Drake spoke up. "You have no need to apologize, Jess. I know that some things you do, you can't help because your instincts tell you what to do. And sometimes, you can't help it. So don't be sorry." I nodded then stared at the road. We continued walking without saying anything. "Jess." I looked at him. "Be honest with me. After hearing what granny told you, do you truly have feelings for me?" I blushed and looked down. "What you mean?"

He stopped and sighed. "Jess." I looked at him again. "I want the truth. Do you have feeling towards me? Do you…..do you love me?" I blushed even harder and started crying. "Jess, tell me." I started to cry even harder. Finally, I choked an answer. "Yes. Yes…..I do" He sighed, and now I was crying uncontrollably. He placed his hand on my chin and turned my face towards him. "Tell me the truth, Jess. Do you really love me?" I just stared at him, then closed my eyes, causing more tears to fall. I opened them back up and looked him in the eyes

"Yes. I love you." He lowered his hand, sighed, and pulled me into a hug. "Do you…...love….me?" I felt tears falling onto my shoulder and he pulled me away. "I...I…..." He started crying too and looked at the ground. _He doesn't love me. That's why he can't look at me. He doesn't love me._ Suddenly, he placed his hand behind my head, pulled me close, and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes were wide in shock. I closed my eyes, wrapped my arms around his neck, and accepted the kiss. We stood there embracing each other for a while. Finally, he pulled away and looked me in the eyes. He was crying. "I do love you Jess. Only you." My eyes widened again. _He loves me! He really loves me!_

He pulled me into a hug and held me as I cried on his shoulder. After a minuet, I pushed him back, grabbed his head, and kissed him again. We held the kiss for what seemed like eternity. We separated, and I stared into his eyes. "Now you arre mine!" He smiled and pulled me into another hug. "And you are mine." _I'm his. He is mine now. And I am his. So...this is love._ We split from the hug, smiled, and started walking back to the house. After a long silence, Drake spoke. "I am never going to hear the end of it from Ed and Al." I turned to him. "If they make fun, I kill!" He started laughing, tears of joy falling down his face.

"What?" I asked. He looked at me and smiled. "I can see it now. Ed running for his life from two women. Winry with her wrench, and you with your teeth and claws." He started laughing again and I did the same. I stopped a second. "Who..Winry?" I glared at him. "Oh, don't worry Jess." He lifted his pants legs and showed me his metal legs. "Winry is the one who helped me walk again after I lost my legs. Granny too. Without them, I would have never walked again." I frowned at seeing his legs. "Don't worry Jess. Cause if it wasn't for them, we would have never met, and you would probably still be in that lab, or dead." I thought about it for a moment. _Y_ _eah_ _. When I meet this Winry, I will have to thank her._ I grabbed his arm and smiled. "I love you, Drake." He chuckled. "Yeah. I love you too, Jessica."


	34. Recovery

**The Blade Alchemist**

Recovery

Drake POV

 _A wolf. I confessed my love to a wolf girl. Yeah. Dad just died again from laughing so hard, I know it. And my sister is probably like ' Oh how sweet! Look at the two of them! So sweet!'. Sigh. So what now?_ "There you two love birds are. I was beginning to worry." Granny was on the porch, watching us. We both blushed. "Well, come inside. It's getting cold." We walked inside and up to our room. _'Our' room?_ We walked into the room and granny followed us to the door. I left some of Winrys clothes for you on the bed, Jess. You're both about the same size." Jess looked at the clothes and turned to granny. "Thank you, granny." _Wow, she is really getter better at talking._ "It's no problem, Jess. I'm going to bed. See you two in the morning." She closed the door and walked away.

Jess started changing in front of me again, but I didn't say anything. She would only just tell me no, and we were together now, weren't we? I grabbed my clothes and walked to the restroom for a shower. When I came back, Jess was already in bed asleep. I turned off the light and climbed in bed next to her. I layed there with my back to her, but that changed when she rolled me over and pulled me into a hug. "Love you." I smiled and stroked her ears. "Hmm. Love you too. Night Jess." She nuzzled closer to me and smiled. "Night."

The next morning, I woke up to her on top of me again and snoring loudly. I sighed. "Wolves." I gently set her to the side and got up to change. I looked at my watch, 7:22. "Yeah, time to go call the Colonel." I finished changing and walked downstairs to the phone. I dialed the number and heard it ring. _"Colonel Mustangs office. Lieutenant Hawkeye speaking."_

"Lieutenant, it's Drake Ganters."

" _Oh, good morning sir. How are you?"_

"I'm fine, thank you. I need to speak with Mustang. He's expecting my call."

" _Yes sir. Just one minuet."_ Brief silence. _"Mustang."_

"Morning, sir. It's Blade. You told me to call you when I arrived."

" _Yes. So tell me everything."_

"With respect sir, can you can me on a non-military line?"

" _Sigh. Yes. Give me the number."_ I gave him the number to the house. _"Alright. Stay by the phone. I'll call you right back." Click._

I hung up the phone. "Good morning, Drake." I turned to see granny coming from the kitchen. "Oh, morning granny." She smiled. "Is Jess up yet? Breakfast is ready." I smiled back. "Don't think so. I'll go get her." I walked upstairs to the room and saw Jess, again, stretching on the bed on all fours. "Good morning sleepy. You sleep like a damn wolf." She grinned, and showed her teeth. "But you love wolf, don't you?" I smiled and shook my head. "Yeah, and that is going to be the death of me. Breakfast is ready. Go ahead and get changed." She nodded and started to change as I walked back downstairs. I was about to enter the kitchen, when the phone rang. "I'll get it."

"Rockbell Automail."

" _It's Mustang. Now tell me everything."_ I told him everything that had happened in the lab and about Jess, except for our love of course. _"I see. You're not going to be able to hide her for long, regardless of what you do."_ I pinched the bridge of my nose. "So, what do we do about it Colonel?" There was a brief silence. _"I know you don't want people to know about her. But we need to bring this up to someone_. _I'm going to write a report saying that she helped you and the Elrics in the lab, and that she was the victim of illegal, military experimentation. I'll ask for her to be protected by the military, protection provided by you and the Elrics specifically. That way no one will bother her or try to take her away."_ I sighed. I was worried if that would work or not. "Yes sir. Do I have to bring her to HQ?"

" _No. That won't be necessary. I'll tell them that she is under your protection. When you are done there, go to Dublith and meet with the brothers."_ I sighed again. "Yes sir." _Click._ "Well, that's that." I hung up the phone and walked to the kitchen to eat. "Drake. After breakfast, can you run to town and pick up some things?" I nodded and looked at Jess. "Jess, I want you to stay here. It's not quite safe yet for you to walk around town. Okay?' She frowned, then nodded. "Okay" I ruffled her ears, got up, and placed my plate in the sink. "Well, I'm off. I'll be back in a few hours. Behave, Jess." She nodded then continued eating. I grabbed my coat and left the house.

Jess POV

Drake left the house, leaving me alone with granny at the table. She stood up and placed her plate in the sink. "Well, he will be gone for a little while. Would you like to help me finish some automail orders, Jess?" I looked at her confused. "Aaautoommaaill? What that?" She smiled. You saw Drakes legs, didn't you?" I nodded back at her. "Well. That's automail. Their artificial limbs to replace lost ones." I thought for a minuet then nodded. "Okay." I put my plate in the sink and followed her to a workroom.

The sight of all the tools scarred me, but I swallowed it down and walked in. "Here you go, dear. Can you screw on this plate here?" She handed me the tool and I began doing as told. _I...actually like this. This is fun._ I finished what I was given and she gave me another project. We continued to work together for the rest of the morning.

Drake POV

I opened the door, walked inside, and set the bags on the table. "I'm back!" There was no answer. "Hello?" A second later I heard granny call from the back. "We're in here Drake." I walked into the workshop and saw granny and Jess working on some automail parts. "What are you up to, Jess?" She turned to me and smiled. "I'm helping." She gave a part to granny, and she nodded. "She's actually really good at this. She may be an automail engineer yet." I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. "Great. You've turned her into another Winry, one with claws." Jess glared at me and granny chuckled.

For the next week, me and Jess got really close. I didn't even care if she changed in front of me anymore. During the day, she would help granny with her automail orders. She would even help with customers. It was at the point were she could do it herself sometimes. Her speech was much better now. She still had trouble with some long words, but she could speak like normal again. I had called Ed and Al to see how they were doing.

They said that Winry had stayed in Rush Valley to apprentice from an automail shop owner. They had gone on to visit their alchemy teacher and learn more on the Philosophers Stone. I decided that me and Jess would leave tomorrow to meet up with them. Jess was a little sad, she didn't really want to leave. She came to love granny and helping her out with the automail orders. _Yup. Another Winry. Ed is going to be pissed._ We decided to have an early dinner since me and Jess had to go to bed early for the train in the morning.

"Well, how are you coming along with working on automail Jess?" She smiled at me. "I love it! It's so much fun. And you get to help others." I chuckled. "I'm happy for you. I see that you really enjoy it." She smiled even more and nodded. "I may even be able to work on yours if it ever needs maintenance." I laughed. "As long as you don't hit me with a wrench, I'm okay with that." We finished the rest of dinner in peace. After dinner, me and Jess went upstairs to get ready for bed. I grabbed my clothes and went to the restroom for a shower. I turned the water on and waited for it to heat up. I looked in the mirror and saw that my hair was now down to the base of my neck.

 _When I'm done, I'll put it in a low tail._ I stepped into the shower and started to wash off. Suddenly, I heard the door open and close. _What the…?_ I peeked around the curtain to see Jess getting undressed. "Jess! Changing in front of me is one thing, but this is entirely different!" She glared at me. "Oh shut up! We are together aren't we? So what does it hurt?" I face palmed and was pushed over when she entered the shower. I completely blushed. I did love her, but this was way too fast for even me. Does she even understand? I sighed and let it go.

After the 'odd' shower, we went back to the room and climbed in bed. She pulled me into a hug and kissed my neck. "Good night sweety." I blushed again, but kissed her head. "Night, wolf." She playfully slapped my head and laughed. "Your wolf." I sighed and closed my eyes, letting sleep take me. I woke up to knocking on the door. "Drake, it's 5:30. You need to get up or you'll miss your train." I yawned. "Okay, I'm up." I tried to sit up but, yup, again she was on top of me, snoring loudly. I nudged her awake. "Time to get up sleepy wolf." She yawned then did her canine stretch. "Morning Drake." I finished stretching and yawned again. "Hmm, morning."

We both got changed and packed up. We walked downstairs, ate a quick breakfast, then turned to leave. "Thanks again granny. We'll come by again before too long." She smiled and turned to Jess. "Yes, thank you granny. For everything." Granny chuckled, then handed Jess a small bag. "What's this?" She took the bag and opened it to reveal about a dozen tools. You can't work on him without tools, can you." Jess closed the bag, wiped a tear away, then grabbed granny in a hug. "Thank you granny so much." She released granny and smiled. "Don't mention it, dear. Now you two be safe, you hear?" We both nodded then turned to the road and started walking. Jess was crying and I brushed the tears away.

"Why are you crying? She's not going anywhere, you'll see her again. Besides, you still have me." She smiled, nodded, then kissed me on the lips. I blushed yet again. "I know, I love you Drake." I smiled and placed my arm around her shoulder. "Love you too, wolf." She smacked me on the back of the head. "All yours." We looked at each other and started laughing. "Well this is one odd relationship, huh?" She nodded. "Yup!" We continued our walk to the train station. 


	35. Her True Form

**The Blade Alchemists**

Her True Form

Drake POV

I was glad that I couldn't feel the pain from the train ride, but I felt bad for Jess. She was rubbing her butt trying to wake it back up. But I really felt sorry for her cause she had a really bad nightmare. She was laying on my lap when she suddenly started crying and talking in her sleep. She was dreaming about when she being tested back in the lab. I had finally managed to wake her up, and she held me as tight as she could, scared for her life. We walked down the streets of Dublith to the meat store that Eds teacher owned. As I opened the door, I saw this huge, muscular man behind the counter. He was just as big as Armstrong. "Good morning. May I help you?"

"Yes. I'm looking for Edward Elric. I'm a friend of his and he's expecting me." The man nodded then took me to the back, into the house. "Hey Ed!" He turned around at the table he was sitting at with a woman who I assumed was his teacher. "Drake! Long time no see, buddy." We pounded fists and the woman walked up to me. I held my hand out to her. "Hello maam. Drake Ganters." She took my hand and shook it. "Izumi Curtis. Nice to meet you. And who is this?" She was looking at Jess. "Oh, I'm sorry. This is Jessica." She slowly walked forward and shook Izumis' hand. "Hello maam." Izumi waved her off. "Just Izumi is fine. Ed, go and get your brother, I'll make some tea." Ed nodded and turned to walk away. "We'll go with you."

We got out back and saw a broom lying on the ground. "Maybe he went somewhere." I stated. We began walking down the street. "Now where would a seven-foot tall suit of armor run off to?" I just shrugged my shoulders. "I'd be happy to tell you where you can find him." we heard a strange voice say. We looked around and saw a figure standing in the shadows in an alleyway. "But first, you tell me what his secret is." Ed grabbed the strange man, and pulled him from the alley. We were all shocked. This man had a long tail. After Ed beat the crap out of him, he told us that Al was being held in a place called the Devils Nest.

We followed the man as he led us to the place and then entered. After walking through some hallways, he took us to a large room with a bunch of men inside. At the back of the room sat Al, his hands and feet bound with chains. I studied every one of the men, watching their every move. I could hear Jess give a low growl. "Jess, easy." I whispered. She stopped growling, but continued to watch the men. Ed and the tall, skinny guy began talking about why they took Al, and ended with Ed kicking the short chimera with black hair. "Jess, you stay here! And don't argue!" She nodded and I drew my sword.

Me and Ed attacked Greed and he blocked our blades with….his hands!? I looked at his hand and it was black and had claws on it. "What the…." Ed attacked again, using alchemy to get above him while I attacked below. We both hit him and our blades bounced off his arms. "Nope!. Sorry, but your blades are no match for my ultimate shield!" He swung at us, but missed. Ed transmuted spikes from the floor as I jumped on top of him. I grabbed his neck and threw him to the floor onto one of the spikes. "Guard your head next time." Ed said as we walked up.

Suddenly, Greed slashed at us, cutting across Eds chest and my back. We both fell to the floor. Ed was lying unconscious from when he was thrown into the wall. I tried to stand up but I saw that Greed had hit my leg too, so I just fell back onto the ground. "Heh. And now playtime is over." He walked over to me and raised his hand to deliver a final blow. My sword had slid across the floor from when I landed, and I didn't have enough time to reveal the arrays on my bracer. Greed swung down at my throat. "NO!"

I was expecting the hand to hit me, but something jumped in the way and attacked Greed, causing him to back up. I looked to see what happened, but my vision was getting blurry from blood loss. I could see some kind of creature standing between me and Greed. It had broad shoulders, and was completely covered in fur. It looked like some kind of werewolf. As I looked, I saw that it was wearing familiar blue jeans, and a white shirt with black vest that were ripped apart. _Is that…...Jess!?_ I then blacked out.

Jess POV

I watched in horror as this Greed person swung at Drake and Ed, hurting them badly. Ed was thrown into the wall and Drake was tossed to the floor and his sword slid away from him. "Heh. And now playtime is over." _No._ Greed walked up to Drake. _No!_ He raised his hand over Drakes neck. _NO!_ He prepared to swing down. "NO!" I felt my body change and grow bigger, my shirt and vest ripped as it did. I charged forward, knocked Greeds hand away, and swung at his middle, cutting him. He leaped back a few feet and stared at me.

"Well well. What's this? The kid brought a little guard dog." I growled loudly at him. "How dare you hurt him! I'm going to kill you!" I yelled in a low sounding voice. I charged at him again and swung, hitting him across the chest. Blood poured from his wound, but he immediately healed up again. I kept charging at him, swinging as much as I could. He just kept backing up. "Sorry puppy. but dog or not, I don't fight women." That's when Ed came in and used alchemy on his stomach. "Hit him there!" I did so and sliced right through his black armor thing, leaving only the underlying muscels. Ed hit him again, and I slashed at the same spot, again cutting through his armor.

After a few minuets, everything stopped, and Greed started laughing. "A puppy and a hot headed brat. What a team. Though to be honest, it's not one I'm particularly interested in fighting. I'll just be on my way now." Me and Ed were surprised as Greed took off out the door. I was about to go after him, till Ed started calling Drakes name. I turned around and saw him bleeding on the floor, unconscious. I don't know how, but I told myself to turn back into my old self and I did. I ran over and cradled Drakes head in my lap. "Drake! Drake!"

Tears started flowing from my eyes. "No, Drake! Don't leave me! Please! You can't leave me! I love you! Please Drake, wake up! Drake!" We carried Drake back to Izumis' place and set him on a bed. Izumi checked him over. "He's alive and breathing. He's lost a lot of blood, but he'll recover." She placed a hand on my shoulder and my tears just wouldn't stop. "It's going to be okay. He's hurt bad, but he's not going to die. Come, lets get you cleaned up." I pushed her hand away. "NO!" I gripped his shirt and cried into his shoulder. "Teacher, I think we should just let her be." Al said. I heard footsteps leave the room.

I continued to cry into his shoulder. "I'm sorry Drake. I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have helped sooner. Your like this cause I let it happen. It's my fault. I'm sorry Drake." I stopped when I felt a hand on mine. I looked to see Drake watching me. "It's…..okay…..Jess. I told you…..to stay put. It's...not your…..fault." I cried more, bent over and kissed him. "I'm sorry." He grabbed my face and pulled me into another kiss. "Will you shut up already?" I smiled. "No." He chuckled weakly. "So, was that...really you? The large wolf?" I frowned and continued crying. "Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't know." He patted my hand again.

"It's fine babe. You just had me confused as hell back there. I definitely was not expecting that." I wiped my tears away and looked back at him. "So, your not mad or afraid of me?" He shook his head. "It was a little scary, but it's fine. I just need to make sure not to make you angry." He chuckled again and I smiled. "You don't have to worry Drake. I wont do anything. But if you scare me like that again, I will kill you." He smiled at me as I leaned over and kissed him again. I looked over at his leg and saw how bad it was. "I don't think I can fix this Drake. This is over my head. Winry will have to fix it." He twitched.

"What?" He face palmed. "Shit! Winry is going to kill me now." I patted his hand. "She is not going to kill you. I wont let her." He glared at me. "Yeah. You try saying that to her wrench, then we'll talk." I shook my head. "So, tell me the truth." He looked at me confused. "Which version for me do you like more. Fur, or no fur." He thought about it a minuet. "No fur, unless it's winter." I slapped his hand. "Don't give me a reason to kill you." He twitched again.

We heard the door open and Ed and Al walked in. "So, how are the husband and wife doing?" Ed said with a smirk. Me and Drake blushed. "Shut up Ed!" Ed kept going. "Aw come on. Why don't you tell us when the marriage is?" Al saw Jess glaring at him, and he knows that glare all too well. "Uh, brother I think you better stop now." Ed turned to him. "Aw come on Al. I'm just congratulating the newly-weds." I looked at Drake. "Kill?"

Ed stopped and looked at us. "Kill? What is she talking about Drake?" Al backed away from Ed. Drake turned to me and pointed at Ed who froze. "Kill!" I jumped in the air and landed on Ed, clawing and scratching him. "Brother, I warned you." Al spoke up. "AHHHHH WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER!? GET HER OFF!" This went on for about two minuets. "Okay, Jess. I think he's learned his lesson. Let him go." I heard Drake call. "Coming." I got off of Ed and walked to over to Drake. "What the hell, Drake!? She just as much a freak as you!" Me and Drake both twitched. I slowly looked at him with fury in my eyes. "KILL?" He nodded. "KILL!" Ed took off like a bullet out the door as I chased after him. "YOUR DEAD ED!"


	36. Deep Feelings

**The Blade Alchemist**

Deep Feelings

Jess POV

I chased Ed through the house until he went outside. I tried to follow him, but something grabbed my shirt collar. I turned around to see Izumi holding me back. "I see that Ed has you pissed off. Why." I growled slightly then explained what happened. "I see. Well, come with me. I would like to speak with you." I nodded and followed her to the table. "Tea?" I smiled. "Yes, please." She handed me a cup and sat down. "So tell me, what exactly happened to you?" She asked, pointing towards my ears. I covered them up with my hands. "I…..I really don't know. I was taken as a baby and turned into this."

"I see. And you and Drake are close are you?" I smiled and nodded. "Yes. We love each other. I know it's weird, considering what I am. But we do love each other." Izumi smiled. "So you've decided to not let your, 'condition' get in the way of your life, am I right?" I nodded. "I'm not letting anything get between us. We belong with each other." Izumi smiled more. "That's good. I can see the love between you two. Now let me ask you this." I looked at her. "How much do you love him? What would you do for him?" I looked down at the tea cup, a tear fell from my eye. "More than anything. I want to be with him forever. I would do anything for that, for him. I would do anything."

"I see. I'm not making fun of you, but do you intend to marry him?" I had to think hard on that one. _Marry? Marry him? I want to be with him. I love him so much. But do I want to marry him? I think I do…...no. I do want to. I want to marry him._ "I want to. I really do. When he fell yesterday, my heart sank. I thought my world was over. I thought I had lost him. I really want to marry him. But it's much too soon. We've only known each other for a little over a week. I know I want to, but I don't know about him. I don't want to say anything, he might run off." Tears started pouring form my eyes. "He might leave me. Leave me alone. I don't want to be alone. I can't ask him. I don't know what he'll do."

"You never will unless you ask him. If you ask him and he decides to leave you, then he is not good enough for you. If he is not ready for it, he will tell you. And if that's the case, all you need to do is wait until he is ready for you. That's all there is too it. I'm not gonna force you to talk to him. But if this is how you truly feel about him, don't hide it from him. Even I will admit that a week is nothing when it comes to knowing someone, but I can see how you two interact with each other. My husband and I didn't know each other for long before he asked me. All I'm saying is do want your heart tells you Jessica."

Izumi stood up and left the room, leaving me at the table crying. Just then, I saw Ed trying to sneak by me. "Found you!" I continued chase after Ed. I'll worry about what me and Izumi talked about later. But right now, it's time Ed dies for calling me and Drake freaks. "YOUR MINE ED!"

Drake POV

I was laying on the bed resting, after Jess took off after Ed. Al was sitting by the bed. "Drake, can I ask you something personal?" I turned to him. "Uh, sure." Al looked at me. "May I ask, how much do you care for Jess." I looked at him confused. "What do you mean, Al?" Al looked back at the floor. "Me and brother can see you love her, but, how much do you really care for her?" I looked back at the ceiling and sighed. "I really don't know Al. I love her, but….I feel that I love her much more than that. We just….bond together. I really can't explain it. I don't know what it means. I just…..I just want to be with her forever." Silence fell for a while. "Drake." I turned to him. "Yeah?" Al looked at me. "Would you ever marry her?" I blushed.

 _Marry her? Do I want to? It's only been a little over a week since we met. She loves me, and I her. But, marry her? Sigh. Yes….I do want to marry her._ "I don't know Al. I only just met her. I know she loves me, but does she love me enough to marry me? She's been through so much, Al. I don't want to scare her and leave her with no one. I don't want her to leave and be all alone." A tear fell from my face. "I can't do that to her Al. I just can't, not after what she's been through. I would do anything for her, anything. I really do want to marry her. But I don't think she wants to marry me."

"How do you know, Drake? You can't know what she'll say. For all you know, she might feel the same way." I sighed. "Maybe so, Al. Maybe so. But is that a risk worth taking?" Al stood up. "I can't answer that one, Drake. Only your heart can. You do what you feel you have to do." With that, Al left the room. I stared at the ceiling. _What I feel I need to do. He is right, but do I need to_ _t_ _o. Should I ask her?_ I heard the door open and watched Jess walk in, blood on her fingers. "I see you caught him." She was panting hard. "He's…...a little…..faster….than I…...thought." She said between breaths. I chuckled. "Well, I hope you didn't really kill him…...did you?" She just grinned. "Maybe, then again, maybe not. You'll just have to see for yourself, if you can find the body."

"Your evil." She smiled. "Well you said 'kill'." I face palmed. "What am I going to do with you?" She laughed. "Love me." She walked over and sat down in the chair next to me. Neither of us said anything for a while. "Drake." "Jessica." we spoke at the same time. "Sorry, wolves first." I offered and she sighed. "Drake, yesterday...when you fell….I lost it." I watched her closely. "I thought I had lost you. I felt my world tear apart. I didn't want to go on." She started crying. "I'm sorry, Jess. It's my fault. I was careless, and now I've hurt you. I'm sorry." She stood up and slapped me across the face. "Stop it. Just stop. I can't do it Drake. I love you too much. I just can't go on like this. I love you, but I feel that it's just not enough."

I grabbed her hand. "Shut up!" She looked at me shocked. "You think your the only one that's hurting, Jess!? I almost died back there. I almost died and I was hurting inside, and I can't feel pain! I was hurting because I was going to die and leave you here alone! You say that you love me? I call bullshit Jess! You may…." I stopped a minuet and took a long breath to calm down. "You may love me, Jess. But you will never love me anywhere close in comparison to me loving you."

She fell to her knees and cried into the bed sheets. Silence followed. "Your wrong." I looked at her. "You are wrong Drake. I don't love you." I looked at her shocked. "Wha...what?" She stood up, climbed on the bed, and straddled me. I blushed. She grabbed my shirt and pulled me to her face. "I. Don't. Love. You! The word 'love' is an understatement to how I truly feel towards you, you idiot! I just simply CAN'T live without you!" She finished by pressing her lips into mine. I was completely shocked at the whole situation. I finally came to my senses and wrapped my arms around her. We separated, and clutched each other in a tight hug.

"I only wish….I could feel you, Jess. I can see you, hear you, smell you. But I can't feel you." Tears flowed from my face. "But I'll make do without that, as long as I have you." She continued to cry into my shoulder as silence fell on us. "Drake." I just layed there, holding her. "Yeah?" The crying got worse. "I want to ask you something, but I'm…..I'm afraid to lose you. I just can't do it." I pushed her back and looked her in the eyes. "Shut up, wolf. I'm not ever going to leave you unless you tell me to. Ask what you wanted to." She sniffed and her crying just kept getting worse. She fell on me and wispered in my ear. "Marry me." _What! Did she just….._ "What?" She clutched me tighter. "Please…..marry me."

I didn't answer. I pushed her off of me, got off the bed and slowly stood up. I pulled her next to me. "No." Her eyes grew wide with shock. I turned to her. "I will not marry you, Jess." Her eyes were filled with shock and sorrow. I knelt down in from of her and took her hand. "I will not marry you, Jessica. But," I looked up at her. "Will 'you' marry 'me'?" The sorrow left her eyes as she knelt down next to me and kissed me. After the long kiss, she pulled me into a tight hug. "No, I wont Drake. But how about we marry each other?" I chuckled. "Yeah. That will work."

"Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Ed, Al, and Izumi standing in the doorway, smiling. "Ah, young love." Al said. "Yup. Kids soon follow, huh Al?" Jess stared at the ground. "Shut up Ed!" Al followed. "Yeah. I wonder what they'll name them brother." I glared at Al. "Shut up Al!" Ed and Al kept on teasing us and we have had enough. "Edward! Alphonse! Shut the hell up!" me and Jess spoke In unison. They both started laughing. Jess looked at Izumi. "Izumi!" I turned to Jess. "Jess!" Both looked at me. I pointed at Al, Jess at Ed, and they both froze. "KILL!" Ed and Al took off, Izumi after Ed, Jess after Al. I could hear the both of them yelling for their lives out the window.

"Get back here Ed!"

"Your mine Alphonse!"

"NO! PLEASE! SPARE UUUUSSSSSS!"

I laughed then layed back down in bed and went over what just happened. _She'll marry me! She wants to marry me! I can't believe it! We're going to be married! Sigh. Fate just likes to play the weirdest games, huh?_ I continued to lay there as tears fell from my eyes. "I'm going to be married."


	37. Winry And Ling

**The Blade Alchemist**

Winry And Ling

Drake POV

After a few days, I was well enough for travel and deiced to leave for Rush Valley. Ed needed some minor repairs on his arm, and my legs needed new parts. We said our goodbyes to Izumi and Sig, then left for the station. "So Drake and Jess, how does it feel to be getting married soon?" Al asked. We both smiled. "The best thing ever!" we said in unison. We got to the station and Al got out tickets for Rush Valley. Me and Jess were inseparable now, any where she went, I did too. Al came back and gave us our tickets. "The man said the train should be here any minuet now." We waited, and finally the train stopped at the station.

On the train, Jess was sleeping in my lap while Ed slept against the window. Al turned to me. "Hey Drake, can I ask you something?" I looked at him. "Sure. Go ahead."…. "You do know about what happened after you passed out during that fight with Greed, right? About Jess?" I turned to the window. "Yes. I do." Al turned his gaze to the floor. (I didn't see it, but Jess woke up and layed still.) "Even after you knew about her true form, you still loved her. I hate to ask this, but why? Didn't she scare you?" I kept staring out the window. "You have a point, Al. Like most people, I should called our love off after seeing what she is." (Jess began to cry.)

"But...I am NOT those people. Even before I knew her true form, I loved her. You want to know why?" Al just stared at me. "It's because of 'who' she is, not 'what' she is. Her name is Jessica, and she is just a human being. A human being with a great gift. I don't care if she is a damn wolf. Even if somehow she changed forms and couldn't change back, stuck as a 'werewolf', I will still love her. Until the day we die." (Jess cried more, then smiled) "I understand, Drake. I'm sorry I asked. I am really happy for you." I turned to Al and smiled. "Thanks, Al." (Jess fell back asleep, happy)

We arrived in Rush Valley and walked to the store were Winry worked. We came up to the store as Winry was carrying a box out. "Hello there, Winry." She turned to us. "You look like your in a very generous mood today." She smiled. "Hey guys. What are you doing showing up like this?" Me and Ed showed her our broken limbs. Winry glared at us, eyes filled with pure hate, and evil, even Jess was scared. And….cue the wrench. After she clubbed us, we went inside so she could work on the limbs. She pulled my leg off and gave me one of those plastic spares. The she began working on Eds arm.

"So what have you guys been up to? And who is this?" looking at Jess. I chuckled. "Oh, sorry Winry, but its a long story. But uuuuhhh…...to put it simple….she's…." Jess walked forward and took Winrys hand. "My name is Jessica. I'm Drakes fiance." I blushed hard. Winry just stared are her, then me. Then the words hit her. "WHAT!? OH MY GOD! REALLY DRAKE!? I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!" She encased me in a hug then ran to Jess. "I'm so happy for you Jess! Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot. My names Winry." They shook hands, then Winry grabbed Jess in a hug. "Congratulations Jess!"

After about thirty minuets of Winry gushing over me and Jess, she got to work on Eds arm. It turned out he needed new parts as well, but Winry didn't have them on hand. She told us to go look around while she got the parts. "What the hell are we gonna do in a town with nothing but automail shops?" Ed asked. "Beats the hell outta me, Ed. I'm new here." Then we noticed Al and Jess were missing. "What the...? Where did they go?" We looked around and saw them near an alley kneeling down. "Al? Jess?" Ed called. "Al turned back. "Um, brother!" Me and Ed walked to him. "What now? Did you find a stray cat, or something." We walked to him and stopped. Al and Jess looked at us and spoke in unison. "Uh….no." Al held up an unconscious man in yellow clothes. "What the…!" I yelled.

We took the man to a local restaurant and ordered something for him. Or...I should say, THE WHOLE DAMN RESTAURANT! _What the hell!? How could he eat so much!?_ Finally, he stopped eating. "Woo hoo! I feel so much better. You guys are life savers. Thanks a lot! Your treat, right?" _Are you serious!?_ "You ate the whole damn restaurant, and you want US to pay!? I yelled. "Yeah. When did we say we're paying?" Ed followed. The guy just waved him off. "Lets not quivel over something so small." Ed started ranting.

Long story short, he said his name was Ling Yao from a country called Xing. I just shook my head. The two started talking about something called alkahestry and such. I was sitting in another table with my wife-to-be, so I didn't quite catch it all. Jess's eyes went wide and I turned around to see two figures cloaked in black holding blades to the brothers. I didn't jump in, but I had my hand on my gun, ready to shoot if something happened. Suddenly, the two figures knocked the brothers on the ground. I turned around and pulled my gun, but didn't take aim.

The brothers got back up went separate directions, the cloaked figures following, leaving me, Jess, and Ling. I sighed, put my gun away, and Ling walked over to us and sat down. "Hello there." he said all cheery. "Uh, hello?" Me and Jess just stared at him, and he turned to the waiter. "Hey pops, lets add some desert to my tab." The man nodded. "And I'll have two lemonades, please." He nodded again then left. "So, Ling is it?" He nodded. "Yes. I'm Ling Yao. And you two are?" I looked at him for a minuet. "Drake Ganters. And this is my wife, Jessica. Or, wife-to-be." We shook hands and he kissed Jess's, the typical gentleman's kiss.

"Well, congratulations to you two." We smiled and nodded. "Thank you. I really don't know why you are here or why you sent those two after the brothers, but you try anything with me, and most defiantly Jess, you'll wish you died in that desert. Please don't take it the wrong way." He waved me off. "Oh don't worry. I'm not here for a fight. I only want information. Nothing more." I stared at him. "Uh huh. Sure you are." The waiter came back and handed us our order. "So Ling. May I ask how old you are?" Jess asked. He smiled. "Fifteen." Me and Jess were shocked. "Fifteen?" I asked and he nodded.

We heard two explosions from the directions that the brothers went. "Well, Ling. Lets go see what they've done now." We left the restaurant and ran to where Ed went. We found him with his arm broken off and a young girl stuck in a snare. Everything was destroyed. "Ed. Just what the hell did you do!?" Jess asked. "Brother!" We turned to see Al walking up to us. "Oh, hey Al." Ed answered. Ling walked by me. "Okay! Good work guys!" I moaned, pinched the bridge of my nose, and Jess patted my shoulder. I turned around, and Ling was…...gone.

Later on, we returned to Winrys shop to get fixed up. Ling was there. I knew what was coming, and I didn't want to get involved in it. So me and Jess sat down in the front office area while Ed and Ling argued. "I'm back!" Ed froze, I smirked, and turned to Jess. "Now you'll see what I meant about Winry and her automail." Winry walked in. "Did you see that? There was some kind of fight on Main Street. So it took a while to…." Winry just stared at Eds arm. "In 3….2…..1…..."

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM!?" Tools and parts started flying around the shop as Ed tried to get away from Winry. "Jess just watched, terrified. "Um, is she always like this when he breaks his arm?" I nodded. "Yup. Every time." After everything calmed down, we began talking about going to Central. When Ed said it, Winry brighten'd up. "You guys are going back to Central? Take me with you!" The two started to argue again, but decided that Winry would go with us. Suddenly, Ling popped in the window. "What the….!" Everybody turned around to him and he smiled at us. "Oh, we're going to Central! How exciting!" Now Ed and Ling went at it again.

"Sigh. Their like a bunch of kids, I swear." I said, then Jess grabbed my arm and hugged me. "At least their not 'our' kids." I blushed and she started laughing. "No offense Jess, but I hate you." She glared at me, then slapped me upside the head. "What was that for?" She stuck her tongue out at me. "For saying you hate me. Don't make me bite you too. Or….would you like that?" She grinned at me and I blushed even more. "Evil wolf. Don't make me find a silver bullet." She looked at me confused. "Why a silver bullet?" I face palmed. "Never mind. You tired?" She nodded. "Hey guys, we're heading to the hotel to get some sleep." Winry stopped us and got my leg. "You want this don't you." I smiled. "Sure. Didn't know it was done already." She attached the leg, connected the nerves, and returned to Ed. "Thanks Winry. Night guys."

We left the shop and walked to the hotel. We got a room, walked inside, then got our clothes out. I walked into the shower and Jess, again followed me in. After wards, we climbed in bed and layed down. I looked at Jess and saw that she was thinking on something. "Jess, you okay?" She shook her head then looked at me. "How are we going to do this Drake? How are we going to get married? No one is going to want marry a wolf to someone. So what do we do?" I hadn't thought of that. _What are we gonna do about that. What is marriage anyway, besides the love part. Just a bunch of papers binding us by law._ "We don't" Jess looked at me again. "What do you mean, 'we don't'?" I looked at her. "The love and affection part aside, what is marriage? Nothing but papers and stuff that bind us together by the law. We don't need that. You want to marry me right?" She nodded. "Of course I do."

"Well, I want to marry you. So, since we can't really be married by law, then hell with it. We'll be married by friends. We'll get married at Winrys house. And granny can marry us. What do you think?" My face was pulled over and she kissed me. "I love it!" We kissed again, then embraced each other in a tight hug. "Well, I'll let granny know when we get to Central." We kissed once more, then let sleep take us.


	38. Death Of A Friend

**The Blade Alchemist**

Death Of A Friend

Drake POV

The next morning, we all, including Ling and his guards, boarded the train for Central. Me, Jess, Ed, Al, and Winry were in one booth, while Ling and the guards in another. Ed, Al and Winry started talking about Huges and from what I was hearing, I couldn't wait to see him again and give him that dinner. He seemed like such a great guy. After a while, everything was quiet. I thought now was the time to tell Winry about me and Jess's wedding plan. "Hey, Winry." She turned to me. "Yeah Drake."

"Me and Jess have talked about this last night. We realized that we can't get married the normal way. With she being what she is, part wolf, no one is going to marry us." Winry looked at us confused. "Part wolf? What do you mean?" I realized that we never told Winry about Jess being a chimera. I looked around to see if anyone was around, but didn't see anyone, besides Lings group. I turned to Jess, and nodded. Jess pulled off the bandanna covering her ears. Winry gasped. "You mean…..?" Me and Jess nodded. "I found her in a lab not too long ago. She was the victim of illegal military research. And...this is the result."

Winry stared in horror at Jess's ears. "We've been keeping it a secret. The military thinks that she's dead. And we want to keep it that way." Winry had tears coming to her eyes. "So….you really are...part wolf?" Jess looked down at the floor, and nodded. "I'm so sorry Jess. How could anyone do such a thing? How can you ever live a normal life?" I held my hand up, stopping her. "But she is." I held Jess's right hand up to Winry, showing her the engagement ring I bought Jess in Rush Valley. "She's getting married to me, a State Alchemist. If the military finds out, it will probably be the end of my career. But we're both going to have a life. Your right, not a normal one, but a life nonetheless, together."

Winry wiped away her tears then smiled. "I'm happy for you two." We both smiled back. "Thanks. But now back to earlier, we can't get married the normal way. So we've decided to ask you." Winry looked confused. "We want to get married at your house, and we want granny to marry us." Winrys face lit up. "Really!? I would love that guys. Of course! When?" Me and Jess looked at each other, then back at Winry. "Not sure yet. We'll let you know. But it won't be long." Winry smiled more and nodded. "Okay"

A few hours later, the train arrived in Central, and we got off. I happened to look up, and Lings guards were on top of the train, calling for him. We all ignored them and walked down the street. We stopped at a corner and decided where to go first. Ed, Al and I decided to got to Central Command and see Huges there. Winry wanted to go to the Huges home and see the rest of the family. I told Jess to go with her, have some women time alone. Her and Winry both agreed. We split up and went our different ways. While we ran, we happened to pass by a telephone booth. It was just a phone booth, but something told me that it mattered. I tossed the thought away and we continued towards Central Command.

We finally arrived and walked in. While walking down the hall, we ran into Lieutenant Hawkeye. "Well well. Look who it is." I called. She turned to us. "Hey guys. It's been awhile." Ed twitched a second. "If the Lieutenant's here, that means so is…."..."Thanks for waiting." we heard an all too familiar voice. "Yup. The Colonel." I chuckled as Colonel Mustang walked around the corner. "Oh, hello Fullmetal, Blade." I gave him a quick salute that he returned. "Hello Colonel." Ed moaned. "Colonel Mustang. What are you doing here in Central?"

"You didn't hear? I was transferred to this branch last month. So, what brings you all here?" Ed was getting annoyed more and more just by talking to Mustang. "We were hoping to gather some information, Colonel." I answered. "Yeah. And we wanted to pay Lieutenant Colonel Huges a visit later as well." Ed finished. Mustang slightly gasped, and Riza lowered her gaze. I noticed. _Something has happened. I know it._ "Not here. He retired out to the country, and took his wife and daughter with them." _Retired? He didn't seem like a man that would just retire like that. What is he hiding?_ "I see. Well, that's too bad."

The conversation soon ended and Mustang started to walk away. "Excuse me sir." I called to him, and he turned around. "If you have a moment, I need to speak with you about a...particular….matter." He nodded. "Very well. Come with me." I turned to the brothers. "You guys go on ahead. I'll meet up with you later." Ed and Al nodded, then I followed the Colonel. We walked down the hall to his new office and walked in. "So, tell me what happened."

"Well sir, it's about the chimera I rescued from the fifth lab." He sat down behind his desk. "Go ahead." I took a deep breath. "Well sir, things have….happened….regarding her. It's a long story so I'll just cut to the chases. Her name is Jessica, and I confirmed that she is part wolf. When we were attacked down south, I got badly hurt. She turned into a large, human sized wolf and tried to protect me, then changed back. So I know she has unique abilities." Mustang just stared at me. "There's something else, isn't there?" I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Colonel, can I trust you to keep a secret from everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE?"

Mustang's brow rose, then lowered. He turned to Hawkeye, she nodded, then turned to leave. I held out my hand to stop her. "She can stay, sir. I trust her." He nodded. "I promise you, not a word. Now what is it?" I took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm telling you this. But as ridiculous as it sounds…..me and her have come to love each other." Both of Mustang's brows rose. "And….are getting married in secret." I heard him snort trying to contain his laughter. "So, let me see if I heard you correctly Blade. You rescued a chimera from a lab, a couple weeks later you two fall in love, and now your getting married? Did I hear correctly?"

I slowly nodded. "She may be a chimera, but that is the outside. Inside, she is still human, and that's all that matters. If it means turning in my State Alchemist certification, then so be it." The room was silent for a while, until Mustang let out a sigh. "It's your life, Blade. I don't care what you do with your personal life. But it better not interfere with your duties. On another note, I spoke with the Fuhrer himself about the protection matter, and he agreed. She has been officially placed under your permanent care." He reached inside his desk and gave me a document. "This letter is proof of that. If anyone gives you trouble over her, present this document. For now, you are dismissed."

I stood up and saluted him. "Thank you Colonel." I turned and walked to the door. "And Blade." I turned back to him. "As weird as you are getting married to a wolf, congratulations." I smiled, nodded, then left. I left the Command Center, and head to the same hotel as last time. When I walked to the front desk, the same clerk as before came to me. "Ah, hello again Mr. Ganters." I smiled. "Hello to you too sir. I need to check in." The clerk waved me off. "It's already been taken care of sir. Mr. Elric and Miss Rockbell are already here. And they reserved a room for you as well. Room #223." I nodded. "Thank you sir." I walked upstairs and to my room. The lights were on, but no one was there.

"Hmm. I wonder if their in Ed or Winrys room." I walked over to Eds door and knocked. "Come in." I heard a low and sad voice that sounded like Als. I opened the door and walked to the bedroom. Everyone was sitting around with sad faces. _Oh no._ "Guys, whats wrong?" No one spoke for a minuet. Finally, Ed spoke up. "It's Huges. He's…...dead." Shock hit me. _What!? That kind man? How could he be dead!?_ "What!? Dead!?" Ed nodded. I lowered my head. _I didn't know the man but for a minuet, but I felt like I've known him for a long time. Why? Why didn't I just take the time to just_ _sit and_ _chat with him a bit? Why did I have to be so selfish? Why!?_

"Excuse me." I said in a low, pained tone. I walked out and returned to my room. I walked over to the bed and plopped down on it. "Why? Why does it always have to be the good men who die young? He had so much going for him. His career, his family, his friends. Why him?" There was a knock on my door. "Come in." The door opened and Jess walked in. "Jess, why did you knock? It's your room too." She stood there in the bedroom doorway head lowered. "I thought you might want to be left alone, Drake. I'm sorry." I got up and slowly walked to her, grabbing her into a hug. "That's the last thing I need right now. First my dad and sister, now Huges. Fate hates me." I heard Jess start crying.

"No, it doesn't. Because it gave you me. Fate put me in that lab, and fate brought me out and gave me you. It was just his time to go Drake. Like your dad and sister. It was just their time." I started crying into her shoulder, and held her tighter. "Please, just don't let me go, please." She started to cry harder. "I wont! Not ever! I love you." We stood there in the doorway holding each other for a long time. Finally, we walked over and sat on the couch, holding each other. I pulled out the paper Mustang gave me and showed it to Jess.

"Here. According to this document, you are now my responsibility permanently. No one, even if you are discover, is allowed to touch or harm you in any way." She looked at the paper and read it. "That's great." she said, trying to be cheerful. "And also, I told the Colonel about out engagement. He sends his congratulations." She nodded. We sat a while longer, then went to bed. We both layed there wide awake. Eventually, sleep took Jess as she snored silently. I continued to stare at the ceiling. _Rest in peace, Huges._ Finally, sleep took me.


	39. Huges' Murderer

**The Blade Alchemist**

Huges' Murderer

Jess POV

I woke up to the shower running and I looked towards the restroom door. The door was open and Drake was standing in front of the mirror. I stretched out, then walked over to him and he saw me in the mirror. "Morning, love." I walked up to him and yawned. "Morning. What are you doing up so early?" He finished putting his hair into a low tail, but it was off. "I kept woke up last night and couldn't go back to sleep." I undid his hair and tried to fix it for him. "That, and you were drooling on me again." I twitched. "I..I do not! You lier!"

"Oh really?" He turned to me and pointed at his shirt, then mine. There were wet spots on them. "What's this then?" I face palmed. "Sorry." He pulled me into a hug. "And your snoring is bad too." I pushed him away, slapped his head, then pushed him out of the restroom. "Hey! What are you doing?" I glared at him. "Taking a shower. Wolves first!" I tried to close the door but he caught it. "Oh no you don't! I was here first!" I opened the door back up. "Wolves first, freak!" He twitched. "Oh a freak am I? I'll show you a freak!" He walked in and started stripping me. "Oh help~. Wolf under attack~." I said playfully as we entered the shower.

Once we were done fooling around, we walked over to Eds room. Al was sitting on the floor being attacked by Winry, while Ed was laying on the bed. "Uh, morning guys." Winry stopped attacking Al and smiled. "Morning...Uh, Jess." I looked at her. "What was that sound coming from your room? It sounded like snoring or something." I face palmed and Drake chuckled then turned to me. "I told you that you were loud." I ran my hand down my face. "Shut up." He started laughing and so did Winry. "Shut up! It's not my fault that it has to be my wolf side that takes over during sleep!" Drake put his hand on my shoulder. "Is it the wolf parts fault that you drool?" _That's it!_ I jumped on him and started slapping him. "I told you to shut up! Why do you have to be so mean!?"

"Hey guys." Al stood up "I'm going to get something to eat for Ed. You guys want anything?" I hopped of Drake. "Yes, please. For both of us." Al nodded then left the room. We sat in silence, then Winry stood up. "I'm going for a walk guys. See you later." I stood up and walked to her. "I'll come with you." Winry nodded and smiled. We left the hotel, and began walking down the street.

Drake POV

Later the evening, Me and Ed were sitting on the couches talking about what to do next. Suddenly, Al burst into the room, holding a paper. "BROTHER!" He scared the crap out of both of us. "Don't scare us like that Al." Ed moaned. "The news paper Ed! Read the front page!" Ed took it as I walked over to read over his shoulder. We read the headlines. "What!? Second Lieutenant Maria Ross convicted for murder of Brigadier General Maes Huges!?" I was shocked. "What the hell!? Isn't she the one who guarded us while you were working on Marcohs notes?" Al nodded. "Lets go guys!" Ed got up and we all walked down the hall. "I can't believe this" Al spoke.

"Maybe the Major or the Colonel can explain this." I turned to Ed. "And what about Winry and Jess?"..."We'll explain it to them later." We left the hotel began running towards the Command Center. Ed turned into an alley. "We'll get there faster through the alleys." Me and Al followed him until we ran into some familiar faces. There was a guy in a suit of armor, Ling, and Ross. "What the hell!?" I yelled. Al and the armored guy were staring at each other. "Ah! Your 'that' guy!" they both spoke in unison. "And Ling too!" Al finished. After a brief argument, the armored guy started swinging at Al while Ross took off down an alley. "Ed go after her, me and Al will hold big guy off!"

But before anyone could move, we heard an explosion in the alley Ross ran down. "Whoops. Looks like they got her." the armored guy said. Ed bolted past him and ran down the alley after Ross. Me and Al went after the big guy, he dodged us, and ran away, Ling in tow. "Ling! What the hell is going on here!?" I yelled at him. "I'll have to fill you in later." Al tried to go after them but I stopped him. "We'll worry about them later Al. But right now, we need to find Ross." We ran down the alley Ross and Ed went down and stopped when we saw Ed and Mustang standing over a burnt corpse. Ed started charging after Mustang but Al stopped him. "Brother, don't!"

"I'm gonna tear you apart!" Ed was furious about something. I looked at the corpse and saw metal tags around the wrist. The name was….Maria Ross!? I looked at Mustang. "Colonel! Explain this!" Al was still trying to hold Ed back. "This bastard just killed Ross!" Al looked at the corpse. "What!? He did!?" Mustang started to walk away. "How could you do that Colonel!?" Mustang stopped. "Maria Ross was a fugitive. Our orders were shoot to kill. So I did." I was only an inch from charging at Mustang myself. Instead, I turned away and walked down the alley to control my anger. I walked back to the hotel and up to Eds room. I slammed the door behind me and plopped on the couch. After a while, Winry and Jess came back, but I couldn't tell them what happened.

"Honey, are you okay" Jess asked and I slowly nodded. "Long story. And I really can't talk about it right now." Just then, Ed and Al came back. Everyone sat down as Al explained what happened. Nobody said a word after. "Drake." I turned to Jess. "Can I speak with you a minuet?" I nodded and followed her to our room. "What is it Jess?" She walked over and sat on the couch. After a second, I sat down next to her. "Jess?" She had tears in her eyes. "I'm...I'm tired of all this death. I can't take it anymore. Right now, I'm just a burden. I tired of it, I want to help you fight." She turned to me. "I want to help you fight! Please, let me fight with you! You know I can, Drake!" I sighed and thought for a moment. "Jess, are you sure you want to do this?" She grabbed my shirt collar and stared me in the face. "Yes! I want to help! Let me help!" I grabbed her hands. "Okay. You can help us."

She smiled for second then frowned and looked down. "Jess?" She didn't answer for a minuet. "I spoke with Winry today. About our wedding." I looked at her confused. "Okay, and?" She turned toward me and grabbed my shirt again. "I don't want to wait. What if one of us dies before we get married? I can't wait anymore." I sighed, pushed her hands away and stood up. I walked over to my bag and pulled something out. When I walked back to her, I pulled her of the couch onto the floor next to me. We both sat there on our knees in silence. I took her hand and placed the item I grabbed from the bag. Jess was shocked. It was a wedding ring that I had bought in Rush Valley without her knowing.

"I figured something like this would happen, knowing you." I grabbed her right hand. "This wont be official to others, but it will be to us." I slid the other ring on her finger. "I, Drake Samuel Ganters, take you Jessica 'Wolf', as my wife….forever." She just stared at me, eyes wide with shock. "Your turn dummy. Or do you need me to write it down for you?" She pulled her hand away and slapped me. "Of course not, freak!" She grabbed my right hand and slid the ring on my finger. "I, Jessica 'Wolf', take you, Drake Samuel Ganters, as my husband." She pulled me into a long kiss, then broke away. "Forever." We kissed again and sat there holding each other crying. "Shall we go tell them?" Jess sniffed. "Winry already knows, but yes. Lets tell them."

We walked to the brothers room and opened the door. We walked in with smiles on our faces. Winry saw and knew what happened, cause she had tears in her eyes. "And what the hell are you two so happy about?" We smiled even more. "Well, we should be happy. We decided not to wait. We just couldn't." Ed was getting annoyed. "Just spit it out already damn it!" Me and Jess looked at each other, then back at them. "We're married now." Silence. Al stood up. "Your married? Why didn't you invite us?" I turned to him. "Because it's not official yet, Al. We are still getting 'married' at grannys. This is a marriage that binds us to ourselves. Later we'll have the marriage that binds us to our friends." Winry walked up to us and jumped into a hug.

Ed and Al walked up and each gave Jess a hug and shook my hand. But everything was interrupted by a knocking on the door. Ed walked to the door and opened it. "Yeah. Who is it?" A second later, he came flying back into the room and landed on the floor. "Major! What the hell did you do that for!?" Major Armstrong walked into the room and up to Ed. "You listen to me, Edward Elric." The Major picked Ed up. "Hmm, this is no good. Your automail seems to be broken." He pointed at my leg. "And your limping. You both need repairs." Everyone just looked at him confused. "Uh….what?" I was so confused that I missed most of the conversation. "Alphonse, you would stick out, so you need to wait here. Along with you miss Jessica." I walked over to the Major.

"I don't think so Alex." He looked at me as I pulled out the paper Mustang gave me. "By order of the Fuhrer, this woman has been placed under my protection, and is not to leave my side. If I go, she goes." The Major looked at me then her. "Very well then. Now we're off to Resembool." I grabbed my bag out of the room and followed the Major down the hall, Jess right behind me. I turned to her. "Well, I guess this counts as our honey moon, loving wife." I whispered. She slapped me on the back of the head. "It better not, dearest husband." We both chuckled and continued to follow the Major to the train station.


	40. Xerxes Trip

**The Blade Alchemist**

Xerxes Trip

Drake POV

We left the hotel and boarded a train to Resembool. Ed and the Major took one booth, me and Jess in another. We both watched out the window as the landscape passed by. "Drake." I turned over to Jess. "Yeah?" She let out a sigh, then looked at me. "I've been wanting to ask you for a while. You said to me when you proposed that…..you can't feel anything. What did you mean?" I stared at her, then sighed. I told her of how I was from a different world and that I had died. She started to cry. I told her that when I came here, both my legs were missing, and that I don't have a sense of touch anymore. She started crying into my shoulder. "You mean…..you can't feel my hugs…..or…..kisses?" Now I started to cry. "No. But I'll live without it. I have you, so that's all that matters."

She grabbed my hand and started stroking it. "It hurts. I can feel your warmth, but you can't feel mine. It hurts so bad. It's just not fair! It's not.." I placed my hand over her mouth, then placed her hand over my chest. "But I do feel it, Jess. In here." She cried even more, then pulled me down for a kiss. "I love you Drake." I smiled and pulled her head into my shoulder. "I love you too, Jess." The train finally arrived in Resembool and were met by a guy standing next to a wagon. "Ah, Lieutenant Breda." He saluted us and we all got into the wagon. After about four to five hours, we stopped at some stables and rented horses. Me and Jess rode together, but that made it difficult because the horse knew what Jess was, and was scared. The horse finally calmed down and we all rode off into the desert.

 **Two Days Later**

I was tired from the long journey, and Jess was furious. The whole trip she complained about the heat and that wolves belong in the cold. I had to resort to giving her my coat to use as shade. It helped, but not much. Finally, she lost it. "HOW MUCH FARTHER!?" Our guide turned to her. "We've almost made it. Look. You can see the ruins ahead." We both looked, and saw the ruins of something in the distance. When we finally got there, we found a well that was full of cool water. Ed got off his horse and ran to the well. But not before Jess leaped off the horse, causing the horse to buck, but not throw me off, and tackled Ed. "ME FIRST ED!" She hopped off him and jumped into the well water. "YOU DAMN DOG!" She death glared him, and he shut up.

I walked over and stuck my legs in the water. I could hear the water sizzle from the metal legs. After a few minuets, I saw one of Lings guards walk around the corner. "I know you, but I never did catch your name." He walked up to me. "It's Fu." He turned to the Major. "Who's idea was it to bring the kid and the woman?" I got out of the water and walked up to the group. "It was a direct order. And the woman is under the protection of Blade, by another direct order." Breda stated. Ed walked up and began talking to Fu as I went back over to Jess. "Some honeymoon, huh?" She glared at me. "If you're calling this our 'honeymoon', I'll kill you!"

"Honeymoon?" We both froze, as Armstrong walked up to us. _Shit!_ "Uh...well….long story short..." The major glared at us. "Explain." I face palmed. "Sigh. Well, to put it simple, me and Jess...are married." The major was shocked. "You are!? So soon!?" I held my hands up. "Please Alex! You can't tell anyone! Please!" He looked Jess, then me. "I will not say a word." He held his hand out to me. "Congratulations." Me and Jess both shook his hand. "Alright everyone. We need to move out." Breda called to us. "Sigh. I don't wanna get out. It's nice and cool." Jess complained. I picked her up from the pool and set her down. "Come on, lets get this over with."

We all walked through the ruins until I saw Ed stop. He was staring at a weird picture on the wall. It looked like a transmutation circle of sorts. "Come on Ed. We're gonna get left behind." We both ran to catch up. We continued walking for what seemed like forever. "We're going in pretty deep now, aren't we?" Ed asked. "Edward! Drake!" we heard a woman's voice yell out. We all turned to see a figure amongst the ruins. She walked closer and I saw that it was…..Maria Ross!? "That damn Colonel" Ed spoke.

"Lieutenant Ross!" the Major yelled as he ripped off his shirt and started chasing her for a bear hug. The rest of us watched the two run around while Breda explained what had happened. After a while, we found a spot in the shade to sit down and discuss Huges' murder. The Major began making drawings of the people and things that were a clue to the matter. We ended up with five drawings. Two I recognized as a portrait of Greed and a sketch of the weird tattoo he had on his hand, called an ouroboros.

Ed explained that the other three were pictures of the homunculi Envy, and Lust, and an array that he saw in the fifth lab. "The seven sins, huh?" Everyone looked at me. "What do you mean, Drake?" Ed asked. I looked at him. "You said that 'they' said something about the 'seven of us', right?" He nodded, and I placed my chin in my hand. "In…..where I come from, there is a myth about something called the 'Seven deadly sins'. They are the sins that every person has at least one of." I started pointing at the portraits. "Greed, Lust, Envy, Sloth, Wrath, Gluttony, and Pride. It may have nothing to do with this, but it could be a clue." They all nodded in agreeing.

"We've collected a fair amount of intelligence. And once we properly piece it together, we'll have the Generals' killer." Breda continued. We sat in silence for a moment before the Major turned to Ross. "I promise you this Lieutenant, we will absolve you of this crime." We all nodded. "Lieutenant Colonel….I mean General Huges….It's just hard to accept that he's dead." I placed my hand on Eds shoulder. "It's hard for all of us, Ed. He was a good man, and always will be." Ed looked at me and gave a small smile. After a few more minuets, we all stood up and went back to the horses.

The sun was starting to set and we were preparing to leave. It was determined that Fu would take Ross to hide out in Xing, while the rest of us returned to Central. After some sad goodbyes, Fu and Ross left. The rest of us had to wait a bit longer because Ed said he need to look at something important. Jess found this as the perfect opportunity to go for one last dunk in the well water. "Your wife is quite the lively one, isn't she?" the Major asked. I nodded and smiled. "You have absolutely no idea Alex." I walked over to her and sat down. "Hey Jess." She didn't look at me but she hummed. "What….what is it like? Being part wolf?" She looked at me. "Hmm, I really can't say. I don't know what it's like to be a 'normal' human. So I can't really say." I nodded. "Can you explain what it feels like to you?"

"Hmm, well. It's like...natural I guess. I can see in the dark, I can smell things from far away, and whenever there's danger, I can sense it. I do know that 'normal' humans can't do all that, so I guess it's kinda cool." She smiled at me. "What? Am I really that much trouble?" I froze a second. "You...heard?" She nodded then pointed at her ears. "I also hear much better than humans, Drake." I face palmed. She looked at the water. "I also heard you talking to Al on the train to Rush Valley. About loving me after seeing what I truly am." I turned to her and she had tears in her eyes. "You weren't asleep." She shook her head. "I heard everything, Drake. Including about loving me as a person and not a thing. But how...how can you truly fall in love with a freak like me? I have to know."

"I didn't." She turned to me. "What?" I looked at her. "I didn't fall in love with a freak. I fell in love with a beautiful person. Even if I have to deal with a wolf everyday, I'll take it. I love you for 'you'. Don't forget that." She smiled and nodded. "Time to go guys!" Ed called to us. "Well, lets go, 'freak'." I said with an evil grin. "Your lucky I love you, otherwise I'd kill you." I slapped her upside the head. "I'd like to see you try. I doubt you can pull it off." I looked at her with a suggestive grin. "Oh really? We'll see about that when we get back to Central." she said catching on. "Wolf versus World Traveler, round one." She started laughing as did I.

After two days, we finally made it back to Resembool. Breda and the Major had to go back to Central, so they stayed at the train station. Me, Ed, and Jess decided to visit granny since we were already here. "Oh yeah, that reminds me. I gotta ask granny about her marrying us." I stated. Ed turned to me. "You really don't need to even ask. You know she'll do it." I smiled. "Yeah, your right. If only Winry and Al were here we'd do it now." Jess leaned over and kissed my cheek. "I agree. I can't wait to see granny again. But I still don't much care for her dog." I turned to Jess. "You mean Den? Why is that?" She gave a slight moan. "She's rude to me. She keeps saying I don't need to be there." Me and Ed both stared at her. "You can talk to dogs!?" we said in unison.

"Sort of. It's like I can hear her in my thoughts, the same for her." I chuckled. "Well, you are part wolf, and you are staying in the house. She just thinks you're trying to take over. If you really can talk to her, just tell her your visiting." Jess sighed. "Okay okay. Fine. I'll be nice, I promise." We continued to walk down the road until we got to the cemetery. We saw a man standing amongst the graves and Ed stopped. "Ed?" Jess asked. He just stood there, staring at the man. "Ed. Whats wrong?" I followed. His eyes grew with surprise. "Hohenheim!?"


	41. Drunk

**The Blade Alchemist**

Drunk

Jess POV

"Hohenheim!?" Ed was completely shocked, and he started walking to the man. "Ed, we'll go on ahead to the house." He didn't answer, he looked like he was in a daze. Me and Drake continued walking to the house were we saw granny sitting on the porch with her pipe. "Granny!" I yelled as I ran to her, encasing her in a hug. "Well hello Jess. Welcome home. And you too Drake." Drake walked over and shook grannys hand. "Good to be home granny." We all walked inside as granny made tea. "So, how is your journey going, Drake?" Me and Drake frowned at the thought of Huges' murder. "Honestly, it could have been better, granny." Granny gave us our tea then sat down. "I see…..And what about you two? How have things been going between you?" She looked at us with a suggestive look.

"Uh, well that's the good news granny. Things have been great between us, cause now….." Me and Drake looked at each other, then to granny, and smiled. We both held up our hands with the rings on them for granny to see. "We're married now." Granny saw the rings and started crying. "I'm happy for you two. You deserve each other." We both smiled. "Thank you, granny. But there is something we wanted to ask you about our marriage." She looked at us earnestly. "Yes?" Drake jumped in. "We are married to each other by our views only. Because of what Jess is, we will never be able to be married by law. However, we can still be married by view of our friends, our family. We wanted to ask you if we could have our wedding here at the house, and you be the one to marry us."

Granny tears started to fall again. "Of course I will, Drake. It would honor me." We all smiled and drank our tea. Den walked into the kitchen and stared at me. "Jess, you promised." Drake reminded me. "I know, I'll be nice." I bent down and started to rub Dens ears. "Be nice? What do you mean Drake?" Drake turned to granny. "Well to put it simple, Jess can talk to Den. And they don't really get along too well. So I told Jess to be nice. I'm guessing Den thinks that Jess is trying to take over the house, and Den don't like it." Granny nodded in understanding. "I see. So that explains why Den is always alert around her."

I had a 'somewhat' conversation with Den and came to an understanding, and she calmed down. Then Ed walked in, followed by the man from the cemetery. "Hohenheim? I havn't seen you in over ten years!" granny spoke. "Hello, Pinako. It's good to see you again." I could feel it as soon as he walked in, something about him was wrong. I didn't bring it up, but I kept alert about him. Later that day after dinner, Ed walked upstairs and went to bed, while me, Drake, granny, and Hohenheim sat at the table for a few drinks. I had a few and minuets later, my world started spinning.

Drake POV

We all, except for Ed who had gone to bed, sat at the table enjoying a few drinks. I guessed that Jess had too much or something, cause she was wobbling in the chair. "Um, Jess. How about you go on to bed? I'll be there shortly." She looked at me with wandering eyes. "Iiimmmm..fffiiinnne. Rrrrreaaallly. Hic! I kayyyy." She stopped talking because her face fell on the table, out cold. "Sigh. Only two drinks and she's like this? What am I going to do with her?" Granny and Hohenheim just chuckled. "Friend of yours?" he asked. "Wife." I turned to him. He chuckled again. "Even worse. My condolences." I just stared at him. "You have no idea." His look turned serious. "Oh but I do." I looked at him puzzled. "She's a chimera, isn't she?" I froze.

"How...how did you know!?" He just continued to stare at me. "I'm not blind Drake. And I know about you. Your not from this world, are you?" I gasped. "What? There's no way you could know! How did you know!?" He sighed. "I can't explain right now. But you'll find out soon enough. And don't worry, I'm not going to tell any one." He looked at Jess, and I twitched, ready to do something if he tried anything. "Regardless of what she is and who you are, you two are happy together. And that is all that matters." I looked at her and smiled. "Yeah. Your right about that."

Suddenly, Jess woke up and started walking away from the table. She walked into the living room and stopped. "Jess….are you….okay?" I asked. She turned around to me. "I…...tiiiirrred." She fell flat on her back on the floor and I face palmed. "That damn wolf is going to be the death of me, I swear." Jess then sat up and stared at me. "I nnooot woolfff...Iii caaat." All three of us just watched at her make a fool of herself. "What? A cat?" I asked. "Nnnooo...Iii fiisshh." We all stared at each other for a minuet, then laughed like crazy. "I think you better take her to bed, Drake. 'Before' she starts acting like a fish." granny warned me. I chuckled "Yes granny."

I left the table and walked over to my wife to pick her up. But she swung her claws at me and I backed up. "What are you doing, Jess?" She stared at me with drunk, but angry eyes. "Iii..nnnooot tiirred!" She got up and ran, or wobbled, to the front door. "Oh shit." She 'wobbled' outside, looked up, and started 'howling'. I face palmed again. I walked over to her and tried to grab her, but she swung at me again. I turned to Hohenheim. "Uh, little help, please." Jess continued to 'howl' as Hohenheim walked up to us. "I'll get her arms, you get the legs." He nodded. We quickly grabbed her and she started fighting back.

"Nnnooooo! Nnnooot tiirred! Nnnooooo!" Me and Hohenheim just couldn't hold her. "I'm sorry for this, Drake." I looked at him puzzled, as he swung has hand and smacked the back of Jess's neck, knocking her out. "What the hell, Hohenheim!? That's my wife!" He just looked at me. "Do you really think we could have handled her while she was transformed? She was on the verge of doing so and you know it." I calmed down, realizing that he was right. "Okay, fine. Lets just get her back inside 'before' she wakes up." We carried her back inside and up to the room. We set her on the bed, covered her up, and walked back downstairs.

We sat back at the table and continued our drinks. "Pinako." Hohenheim spoke. "Yes?" He had a stern look on his face. "The life form that my sons transmuted, are you positive that is was Trisha?" Granny had a confused look. "Well I wouldn't...it didn't even look human to me. So I wouldn't think of it as..." Hohenheim interrupted her. "No, that's not what I'm asking. Did you notice the eye color, or the hair color?" Granny and me were both shocked. "What are you trying to get at? Are you telling me that wasn't even Trisha? For all that those boys sacrificed, your saying that 'thing' they created wasn't even their mother!?"

"I've said all I can." Hohenheim closed the topic. Me and granny were still shocked. We sat there in silence. "Hohenheim." He turned to me. "You know about me, being from another world, right?" He looked at me and nodded. "Then you know about my legs?" He just stared at me. "And one of your senses were taken as well." I froze. "Tell me, what did you do? How did you end up at the gate?" I lowered my head and took a deep breath. I explained about me dieing and my experience in the gate, including my sense being taken. "I see. So the 'Truth' pulled your body into the gate after you died. And took your legs and sense of touch while there. So what is it you wanted to ask?"

I took another breath. "Is there…...any way….to get my sense back? Any way at all?" He just stared at me and granny looked worried. "There is, but it is not worth the risk. You have too much to risk for a single sense. You have your wife, your friends, your life. Don't try to risk it all just to be able to feel again." Tears came to my eyes. "There is one more thing." He continued to look at me. "Yes?" I looked at him. "Ed, Al, and someone else I know can perform transmutations without circles by clapping their hands. I have tried it, but I can't do it. We were under the assumption that anyone who saw the 'Truth' can do it, but I can't. Why is that?" He leaned back in his chair.

"Your assumptions were correct. Anyone who has seen the 'Truth' can perform alchemy without arrays. But those are people who have performed human transmutation to 'knock' on the gate. You on the other hand, did NOT 'knock' on the gate. You were 'pulled' to the gate against your will, even though you saw 'Truth'. That's why you can't perform without arrays." I thought about it for a minuet. It made sense. Ed and Al used alchemy to get to the gate, but I didn't do anything. "Thanks, Hohenheim." He nodded at me and we continued to drink.

We suddenly heard footsteps running through the house. We turned to the living room to see Jess run by and out the door. "SHIT! NOT AGAIN!" We followed her outside and she was 'howling' again. "Jess! Knock it off!" She turned to me. "Nnooooo!" and she kept 'howling'. I face palmed as Hohenheim walked up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Want me to knock her out again?" I looked at him then at her. _Thank god we're in the middle of nowhere._ "No. She'll just wake up again. Let her go." Den walked out of the house and up to her. We watched as Den sat down next to her and started howling too.

"Never mind. Granny, you get Den, we'll get Jess." We walked up to them and Hohenheim smacked her in the neck again as granny grabbed Den. "You know, she's gonna have a hell of a hangover tomorrow." granny stated. "Don't remind me, granny." I moaned. I carried her inside and to the stairs. "I gonna put her in bed and make sure she stays there. Night granny, Hohenheim." They waved me off as I carried her back to bed. It was awkward, but I got her, unconscious mind you, change into night clothes and set her in bed. I got changed and layed down next to her. Again, she woke up and grabbed onto me. "Miiiinnnne" _Oh lord, not this again._ "Yes, yours. Now go to sleep." She snuggled tighter to me. "Kaaayyyy" and she fell asleep, snoring loud as ever. "Sigh. There is no way I'm gonna be able to sleep with her snoring 'that' loud." I mumbled under my breath. _This is going to be a loooooong night._


	42. The Remains

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Remains

Jess POV

I woke up to see my husband changing and a HORRIBLE headache. I moaned from the pain and he turned around. "Well well. The 'howling fish' is awake, huh?" I turned to him clutching my head. "The what?" He chuckled, then explained to me last nights events. My eyes grew with shock. "You lie! There is no way I howled in the yard!" He started laughing. "If you don't believe me, go ask granny. You should go take a cold shower to help with the hangover. Want some help?" I glared at him. "No! You'd just make fun of me." I tried to stand up but lost balance and he caught me. "I'm your husband, it's my job. Come on." We slowly walked to the restroom and he helped me start a tub.

"Do you want me to stay, or will you be okay?" I looked at him. "Please, stay." He chuckled again. "Shut up. I don't like you right now." He held his hands up. "Okay, sorry." He sat on the toilet for a seat while I soaked in in tub. My headache was starting to go away. "I'm...sorry. I caused you trouble last night and I'm sorry." He patted me on the head and I looked up at him. "It's fine." He had large bags under his eyes, I could tell he was very tired. "You didn't sleep last night, did you?" He chuckled yet again. "How can I when you snored loud enough to wake the dead." I blushed. "Did….did not…..did I?" He started laughing and nodded. I blushed even more. "You're mean."

After the bath, I got changed and went downstairs where granny was sitting at the table. "Granny." She looked at me. "Is..is it true….what I did last night?" Granny smirked but didn't answer. I planted my face in my hands. "Oh god. I'm such an idiot." Drake and granny both laughed as Ed walked downstairs. "Whats going on?" I looked at him. "Please don't ask." Ed looked confused. Drake told him what happened last night and Ed laughed as I blushed. "I hate you all." Drake pulled me over and kissed my cheek. "Its okay. I'll have to tell you a few of my drunk stories. I think that they'll put yours to shame." I glared at him. "I don't think you've ever done something as stupid as howling at the damn moon!" Every one laughed.

After breakfast, we all walked up to the ruins of Eds old house and started digging for the remains. They got yet another laugh, cause I started digging on all fours like a dog. "Shut up! I can't help it! It's not my fault I'm a damn wolf, freak!" Drake twitched and Ed laughed. He glared at Ed and he shut up. We heard thunder in the distance and I saw Ed clutch his chest. "My stumps are aching from the weather. It's going to rain. Lets just hurry and do this." Everyone began digging around the ruins and it slowly started raining. I don't mind rain, I actually love it. But Ed was having a hard time cause he looked to be in so much pain.

Suddenly, Ed started vomiting and granny ran to him, rubbing his back. Then out the corner of my eye, I saw my husband fall to the ground. "Drake!" I ran to him and he was trying to stand up. "It's getting hard to move my legs. Their getting really stiff." I started to massage his stumps to try and get them to loosen. After a minuet, he stood up and began digging again. I did as well. My hands were starting to hurt from all the digging and I would have to soak them for a minuet every now and then.

Now the rain was really coming down. Ed started vomiting again, but immediately continued digging. I heard my husband cough and I look over to see he was coughing BLOOD! "Drake!" He fell to the ground and continued coughing as Ed and granny ran to us. "I'm fine. Leave me be!" He stood up again. "Your not fine! Your spitting blood, Drake!" He turned to me and smiled, blood on his lip. "I'll be fine. Trust me." I sighed, wiped the blood off his lip, and kissed his cheek. "Okay." We all continued digging, but at least the rain was letting up. Drake fell to his knees, started coughing blood again, then fell flat on the ground. "DRAKE!"

I ran to him and rolled him over and saw he was out cold. He had blood oozing out from his mouth. "Drake! Wake up!" I slapped his face. "DRAKE!" He slowly opened his eyes looked at me and smiled. "Sorry, just a bit tired." I started crying. "You idiot freak! Don't scare me like that!" He chuckled then got back up again. "I'm not stopping. Lets get this over with and go home." I couldn't stop crying. "Drake, please stop! Your going to kill yourself!" Ed and granny just watched us. "Sigh. Fine. I'll take a break." I gave a slight smile, but was still scared as to why he was coughing up blood.

After about twenty minuets, Ed had hit something hard with his shovel. He dug with his hands and pulled something from the ground. He ran to the bucket of water and rinsed the object out. "Granny. Moms hair was a light chestnut color, this is black." We started digging were Ed found the hair started finding bones from the remains. We stacked them together so granny could measure them out. After taking a look at the remains, granny determined that the remains were not Eds mother. Ed fell to his knees, then after a moment just started laughing. "It really is impossible to bring the dead back to life. The undeniable truth. It was impossible all along!" Granny walked over to Ed to talk to him, while I walked over to Drake. "Honey, are you okay?"

He didn't answer. He was slumped over against the tree. "Drake!?" Still no answer. I ran to him and when I touched him, he just fell over. "Drake!" Ed and granny turned to us, saw Drake laying on the ground, and ran over. "Drake!" Ed called. I was shaking him, trying to wake him up. "Drake! Wake up! Please! Wake up!" Granny pushed me away and placed her ear to his chest. "He's barely breathing! We need to get him home now!" Ed reached down and picked him up onto his shoulders and ran towards the house, leaving me there crying. "Drake, no!" I got up and ran after them.

When we got back to the house, Ed placed Drake on the couch while granny looked him over. His breathing was ragged and blood was falling from his mouth. "He wasn't able to feel the pain to make him stop, so he overworked his body. His lungs are badly hurt, he needs rest." Then Drake twitched. "No." he spoke weakly. "I'm..fine. I..just need...rest." I ran to his side. "Drake you idiot! As soon as your better I'm going to kill you! I told you not to scare me like that!" He looked at me and smiled. "Yeah, sure. Like you could. I'll be fine, just need rest." He layed his head down and dozed off.

"Jess." Turned to Ed. "We need to talk." I nodded and we went to the table while granny made tea. "Jess." I looked at Ed. "Drake didn't tell you, did he? What he got for his sense of touch?" I shook my head, and Ed sighed. He told me about Drake going through the gate and how his sense was taken and his mental abilities improved. And that those abilities can kill him. I gasped and stared at him wide eyed. "Like granny said, he worked his body too much, and didn't realize it. He was tearing his own body apart. Remember how his legs froze up?" I nodded.

That's only under the most extreme cases. His nervous system in his leg was trying to shut down. That's why his legs froze." Tears started pouring from my eyes. "You mean….he was killing himself?" Ed slowly nodded. "You know how tough I can be Jess, yet you saw me out there in so much pain. Enough to cause me to vomit. I had to dig slow to take it easy, but he didn't cause he couldn't feel the pain. Pain is the way our bodies tell us to stop or slow down." He turned to Drake sleeping on the couch. "He worked his body so hard under such harsh circumstances that it tore itself apart from the inside." I lowered my head and cried into my hands.

"Why!? Why didn't he tell me!? I would have stopped him if I knew!?" Granny walked over and sat down. "No, you wouldn't have." I looked up at granny. "What?" She just looked at me. "An automail rehabilitation normally takes one to two years for a single limb, and he has two, so it should have taken him two to three. Do you know how long it was until he was finished?" I shook my head. "Three months." I gasped. "Three….months!?" Granny nodded. "You know how Winry is about her automail and patients. She even slugged him on the head a few times, but that didn't stop him. Not even Winry could stop him. And if she couldn't, you definitely can't. He's a person that cannot be stopped once he sets his mind on something. And you know it."

My tears slowed, but didn't stop. I saw granny look behind me and gasp. "Why are you all talking like I'm not here?" I turned around to see Drake standing right behind me. I just stared at him with worry in my eyes. He sighed. "Sorry guys. I didn't realize that I was working too hard. My fault." I jumped out of the chair and encased him in a hug. "Don't you EVER do that to me again, you...you freak!" He chuckled weakly. "Okay okay. Sorry. So what's the plan now Ed?" Ed just stared at him with worry. "Well 'I'm' going to Central." Drake chuckled again.

"Okay. When do 'we' leave?" They just glared at each other. "Face it Ed, Jess, I'm going, and you can't stop me." Ed moaned and I cried more. "Drake, please. Stop this. I can't lose you. Don't do this to yourself." He pushed my head back and looked me in the eyes. "I'm not going to sit here and do nothing. It's not me. You know that." I smiled and nodded. We ate lunch and got ready to go. It turned out that we could make the evening train to Central if we left immediately. We said our goodbyes and turned down the road. "Drake." Ed spoke. "Yeah?" Ed turned to him. "You do know that if you kill yourself your wife will kill me, right?" He chuckled nodded. "I set it up that way. If I die, your coming with me." I saw where Drake was getting at and played along, so I gave Ed the 'death glare'. "Which means Ed, that you better keep him alive, for your sake." Ed twitched and turned back around. Me and Drake looked at each other and smiled.


	43. Back To Central

**The Blade Alchemist**

Back To Central

Drake POV

The train ride to Central was a long one. Neither I nor Ed could sleep because Jess was. And you all know what she does when she sleeps. Ed was looking out the window while was looking at an old picture of my family from before my dad and sister died. And there was one where we were celebrating my dead sisters birthday at her grave. "What are you looking at honey?" I looked down to see that Jess had woken up. I sighed. "A picture of my family." Ed looked at me with interest. "May I see?" I nodded and he walked over to us. They both studied the picture closely as I pointed out my family.

"This is my mother, and father. My oldest sister, Elizebeth, my brother James, and my youngest sister Sarah. This was taken ten years ago, before I joined the army. That's me in the middle." Jess looked at my younger self. "Aw, you look so cute." I twitched. "Oh, shut up." She chuckled then her and Eds expressions changed when they saw the photo of the birthday at my sisters grave. "I'm sorry Drake. She had to die so young. It's just not fair." Ed spoke. A tear came to my eye and Jess wiped it away. "They would be proud of you dear. You've been through so much, and you just don't stop."

"You know….when I confessed my love for you back at grannys house, I thought for sure that my dad was laughing at me in the grave. And my mom would have killed me for confessing to a wolf. And when I proposed to you, I know my dad died again from laughing so hard. But your right, they would be proud of me." Jess smiled and kissed me on the cheek. "Yes, they would." Ed returned to his seat. I put the photos away and leaned against the wall to try and sleep. Sleep slowly began to take me as I closed my eyes. SNORE! Me and Ed stared at Jess with anger in our eyes. "Damn wolf!" Ed stated and I turned to him. "Feel the pain, Elric. Feel. The. Pain."

We finally arrived in Central and got to the hotel. We opened to room door to find Ling and that girl guard of his sitting at the table eating, and Al are tore up. "What the hell!" Ed yelled at Al. I turned to Ling. "And you, what the hell are you doing here?" Ling looked at me. "Eating a delicious dinner." he said with a chicken leg in his mouth. Ed picked them both up and kicked them out of the room. "And what the hell happened to you Al!?" I asked. He sighed and explained everything that happened while we were away. I sighed. "I'm gonna go get a shower guys. Be back soon." Ed waved me off and I went to my room. I grabbed some clean clothes and walked into the restroom.

I heard the room door open and close and Jess plop on the bed. I looked in the mirror and saw that I needed to shave. I grabbed the razor by the sink and shaved. I also saw that my hair was now shoulder length. Yeah, I was gonna have to keep it tied up. I striped down and stepped into the shower. I heard a knock on the door. "May I join you?" I sighed. "Yeah, sure." After the shower we got changed and went back to Eds room. They were discussing getting Als body back and Ed turned to me. "We may even get you your sense back, Drake." Jess gasped, I lowered my head. "No." Everyone gasped.

"I don't need it." I walked over and tapped Ed on the head. "I've got you, Al, Winry, granny, my wife, and all my other friends. He was right, I have too much to risk. I have every one of you, what do I need that for. Al needs his body back, but I don't need anything. I have everything I could ask for. And that's that." They all stared at me then smiled. I then yawned. "Sorry guys. But I haven't gotten any sleep in two days. So I'm off to bed." Al turned to me. "Why not?" Me and Ed looked at him with smirks on our faces and Jess face palmed. "Lets just say that I had to deal with a drunk wolf." Ed snickered and Jess blushed. "Drunk wolf?" Winry asked.

I couldn't hold it back anymore. I told them of the night Jess was hammered and they all started laughing. "Shut up! I hate you all! You're so mean Drake!" She yelled. We all calmed down and I decided to stay up long enough to tell them one of my drunk endeavors. I told them that the day I got my drivers license, me and my friends decided to go out and celebrate, with alcohol. I told them that I got so drunk that I stripped my clothes off, ran around town naked, stole a police car, and ended up parking it inside a store. Luckily, I somehow only spent six months in juvenile hall and got grounded for twenty years.

They were all rolling on the floor laughing their heads off, including Jess. "Honey, I retract my previous statement, about not having anything as embarrassing as mine." Jess said and continued laughing. "Yeah. I told you so." Now it was my turn to blush. "Well. I'm out for the night fellas. See you in the morning." I left the room and returned to mine. Me and Jess both changed, then went to bed. "Honey." I looked at her. "Did you really do all that stuff?" I smiled. "No." She sat up surprised. "What? You lied?" I pulled her back down next to me and chuckled.

"Sort of. I didn't really park the police car in the store." She looked at me puzzled. "Then….where did you park it?" I looked at her with a smile on my face. "In the lake." She burst out laughing again. "The lake!? How the hell did you manage that!?" I face palmed. "Even to this day….I really have NO idea." She continued laughing for a bit longer then settled down. She held close to me and sighed. "Maybe we should get drunk together sometime." I ripped by head over to her and stared. "OH. HELL. NO!" She started laughing again. "That's all we need! You howling at the moon in a car while I drive it into a damn lake! Screw that!" We both started laughing now. After a minuet, we calmed down again.

We both layed there in bed, waiting for sleep to grab us. "Jess." she opened her eyes and looked at me. "Yes?" I sat for a moment thinking. "I'm sorry." She looked at me puzzled. "For what, honey?" I continued to stare at the ceiling. "For not telling you, about my 'abilities'. It was wrong to hide it from you. I understand if you don't forgive me." She didn't say anything. I turned to her and she was crying. "Why? Just please, tell me why you didn't tell me?" I looked back at the ceiling. "Because, you're my wife. It's 'my' job to protect you. If I had told you, you would have stopped me from doing 'anything'. You're the only 'true' family I have here. I can't lose you." Jess sat up and slapped me. "And you think that 'I' can lose 'you'!?" I looked at her and tears were falling from her face. "Yes, you're right Drake. It is your job to protect me. But does that mean you have to kill yourself in the process!?" I sighed. "Jess..."

"No! You shut up! I was stuck in that lab my whole life, so I don't know that much about the 'outside world'! But I do know that marriage is supposed to be equal! You can't do it all yourself! You never ask for help, Drake! You never ask for mine!" She fell on top of me and buried her head in my chest. "Drake….you can't do this alone. It's wrong to try. You're right, I would 'want' to stop you, but I would only help you instead. Please, Drake...please...just let me help you. You don't have to kill yourself for me." I sighed. "I'm sorry." I pulled her away and looked into her eyes. "I promise not to hold anything from you again." She clenched her teeth, sat up, then slapped me again.

"You better not! Just because I love you, it does not mean that I won't kill you!" As I looked in her eyes, I could see the fury in them. I could see she really meant every word she said. "I wont. Promise." She landed on me again and kissed me. "Please, Drake...no more secrets." I pulled her back again. "No. More. Secrets." She kissed me again and snuggled into my shoulder, still crying. A minuet later she spoke again. "Drake." I took a deep breath. "Yeah." She clutched me tighter. "I can't stop crying….sing to me." I looked at her. "What?" She clutched me even tighter. "Make my tears stop. Please….sing to me." I chuckled. "I can't sing. I don't have talent." She slapped my chest. "I don't care! Please...just make them stop…please." I sighed and thought of what I could sing to her. I finally rested on a song from my favorite band, Nickelback.

"From underneath the trees, we watch the sky. Confusing stars, for satellites.

I never dreamed, that you'd be mine. But here we are, we're here tonight.

Singing amen, oh I'm alive.

If everyone cared, and nobody cried. If everyone loved, and nobody lied.

If everyone shared, and swallowed their pride.

Then we'd see the day, when nobody died.

And I'm singing, amen I'm alive.

Singing amen, oh I'm alive."

I looked over and she was asleep, but tears still came from her eyes. I leaned over and kissed her on the head. Her grip on me loosed and I started to cry myself. I wiped the tears away and stared at the ceiling. She wasn't snoring, but I couldn't sleep, not after what she told me. I realized that tears formed in my eyes again and I wiped them away. _I've hurt her. Married not even a week, and I've hurt her. What kind of husband am I, that hurts his wife right after marriage? Or anytime for that matter? I've been a failure so far. But that is going to change. I will not hurt her again. Ever!_ I continued to lay there, watching the ceiling, until finally after two days, sleep took me.


	44. Plan For Capture

**The Blade Alchemist**

Plan For Capture

Drake POV

I woke up as my wife rolled over and slapped me in the face. "Jess!" She didn't wake up. She just layed there, sprawled out, sleeping peacefully. I sighed then slowly got up, as not to wake her. I got changed and checked the time, 7:22. I left the room, walked over to Eds room, and knocked. "Come in." I opened the door and walked over to the brothers. "Morning guys. So whats the plan?" Ed was stretching out as Al stood up. "Well, the Colonel is in the hospital and we need to discuss what we've discovered so far." I nodded. "Ed." He looked at me. "We need to talk. You, Al, and I."

The brothers looked at each other, then back to me. "Uh, okay. What is it." I walked over to the door, locked it, then came back. I sat on the couch and gestured Ed and Al to do the same, and they did. "Sigh. I'm going to die guys." They both gasped. "You saw it yourself Ed, what just digging did to me. There is going to be something big happen before too long, and we all know it. As long as she is safe, I will do want it takes to protect her. Including putting my life in danger." Ed and Al just stared at me. "But, I promised that I would let her fight as well. And I will not stop her." I stared at the brothers. "And you will not stop her either. No matter what happens, she will fight will us. And you will NOT stop her, understood?"

They both looked at each other, then to me and nodded. "We won't stop her, Drake. We understand." Al spoke. "Good. I'm going to go get Jess, I'll be back." They nodded and I left the room. I got back to my room and saw that Jess was not in bed, but I did hear the shower running. "Guess she wanted another shower." I walked over and knocked on the door. "Yes?" I sighed. "May I come in sweety?"…."Of course." I opened the door, walked in, and sat on the toilet. Jess poked her head around the curtain. "What is it honey?" I sighed again. "I spoke with Ed and Al, about you wanting to fight with us. But I need to ask you something." She looked at me. "Yes?" I looked at her.

"You know that if your seen in your 'other form', that they will try and capture you? That fighting with us is risky?" She gave me a stern look. "Yes, I do. We both have something to risk, and both risks are worth fighting for." I smiled at her. "I have to ask to make sure. Are you completely positive you want to fight? Absolutely sure?" She gave a heavy nod. "Yes! Absolutely sure, dear!" I smiled more, nodded then walked over and kissed her. "Good!" I turned to leave but she gabbed me and turned me around. "Good!" she said then kissed me again. "Now get out, freak." I twitched, but held my anger. "Damn wolf." She peeked around the curtain again. "I heard that!"

She got done with her shower and we met with Ed and Al to go to the hospital to meet up with the Colonel. We discussed about how Hawkeye and Al found another large room in the third lab that had the same array as the one in the fifth lab. She told us that she counted her steps and she drew an area around the lab on a map to measure where they ended up. As we looked, we saw that the Fuhrer's office was in the area. We all came to the conclusion that the Fuhrer may be working with the homunculi.

"Colonel." I spoke and he turned to me. "You know about Jess, the 'chimera' I'm protecting? Well, we spoke, and she is in the fight too. So whatever happens, she's in too." He looked at me sternly, then nodded. "As long as she knows the risks that.."…."She does, and accepts them." He stared at me. "Very well. You all are dismissed. Fullmetal, Blade." We both nodded then left the hospital. That night, me, Ed and Al went to check on the third lab to find that room that Al was talking about, but found nothing. We went back to the hotel to discuss what to do next. But before we got back, Sergeant Brosh found us. "Edward, wait!" He came running to us, out of breath. "Hey Ed, isn't that Sergeant Brosh?" He looked at him. "Yeah."

Brosh stopped in front of us. "I'm glad I found you. You all need to go back to your hotel room, right now! I can escort you there if you want me to." He handed us a sheet of paper and we read it. It said that 'Scar' was in the area and attacking State Alchemists, and that he had a tattoo on his right forearm. "A tattoo. It was him." Ed spoke and I looked at him. "Ed? You okay?" He waved me off. "Yeah. I'm fine." We continued to walk back to the hotel.

When we got back, Ed and Al went to their room while I went to mine. Jess was laying on the couch. "Jess, lets go." We both walked to Eds room, entered, then sat on the couch. After a long discussion. we decided that we would lure out the homunculi and capture one. Suddenly, Ling and his girl guard popped in the window, asking if they really couldn't die. "Why don't we lock the windows? Al asked, and I face palmed. "Good question." I added. Ling walked, or barged in, and sat down on the couch across form us. We discussed that we needed to capture one of the homunculi.

"Count us in. We'd love to help you guys." Ling finally spoke. "Why is that?" Ed asked. Ling looked at him. "I can't say I care about the military stuff, but it sounds like these homunculi are just what we've been looking for." Ling then looked a little shocked. "Whats wrong? You look kinda skeptical." Me and Ed looked at each other, then back to Ling. "Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the help you've already given. But this..." Ling stopped him. "You've got better odds with more help. I'm serious about this. This could be what rescues my clan." Me, Ed, and Al looked at each other, then back to Ling. "Alright then Ling, we're in this together. But nothing funny, you understand me." I spoke. He looked at me and smiled.

"I promise not to run off with them. I owe you that much." Me and Ed looked at each other, then again back to Ling. "What for?" Ed asked. Ling pulled out a long paper that me an Ed looked at. "This is for room service!?" we spoke in unison. Ling smiled. "YOUR DAMN RIGHT YOU OWN ME!" We both kicked Ling and his guard out the window. "And Drake." I turned to Ed. "What about you?" I thought about it for a moment. "Me and Jess will go help Ling. Scar hasn't seen me yet, so I don't need to worry about him. Lings guard might be a tough warrior, but this is a homunculis we're dealing with. They'll need help. We'll try to catch him in the alleys so Jess can transform and fight as well."

Jess walked up to me and smiled. "Thank you." I smiled back. "Welcome." We turned to Ed. "So, how are you going to get Scars attention?" Ed thought about it a moment. "I guess I'll just have to toss my fame around till he shows up." I just stared at him. "I don't wanna know. But now that we have a plan, Jess and I are going to bed. Big day tomorrow. Night guys." They waved us off as we left the room. "So, you get to see the big bad wolf in action, huh?" Jess teased and I chuckled. "Yup. Looking forward to it. You know, you do look better with fur I think." Jess slapped me on the head. "Oh really? Then maybe I should just sleep in wolf form. But I snore louder in that form." I smirked. "You probably drool more too." She punched me in the side. "I hate you."

I opened the door to our room. "But you love me." She stared at me. "A little too much, freak." I then slapped her on the head. We went to the bedroom and I got some clothes for a shower. "Can I join you?" I turned to her. "You already had one." She reached around and showed me her tail. "Yeah, but now my tail fur is all mangled." I sighed. "Sure, whatever." We had our shower and changed for bed. I looked at my watch and saw that it was only 8:32, so I decided to stay up a little longer and read. Jess sat next to me and was combing her hair and tail. "Why does my hair have to be so hard to manage? I brush it, then an hour later it's a mess again." I chuckled.

"Then put your hair up, honey." She sighed. "I guess I have to." She walked to my bag and stole one of my hair ties that I bought a few days ago. "That's mine, but I'll loan it to you." Again, she slapped my head. "Oh shut up. I need it more than you." She sat down and tried to braid her hair, but no luck. "Would you like me to get it for you?" She turned around. "Yes, please." I chuckled again and started on her hair. I put her hair into twin low tails, and braided them together starting about five inches from the end and down, leaving a one foot gap between the braid and her head.

"There. All done. Go look in the mirror and see what you think." She went to the mirror and looked at it from all angles. "I love it, sweety. Thanks." I chuckled and returned to my book. Jess came back and sat next to me. We sat in silence for a while and Jess was starting to nod off. "Babe, lets go to bed. You're falling asleep." She nodded and yawned. "Okay." I put my book away and joined her in bed. After a minuet, she spoke again. "Thank you." I looked at her. "For?" She gave me a kiss. "For singing to me last night. I stopped crying when you did. So, thank you." I kissed her back and layed my head back. "You're welcome." We layed there in silence and finally fell asleep.


	45. Rooftop Battle

**The Blade Alchemist**

Rooftop Battle

Drake POV

When we woke up, we didn't get out of bed right away, we layed there and held each other. "Drake." I stared at the ceiling. "Yes?" She pulled me over and kissed me. "I love you. I want you to know that." I looked into her eyes and kissed her back. "I do too, love. Lets get ready, shall we?" She nodded. We both got changed and I strapped on my gear. I checked my gun to make sure it was good to go and placed it in the holster. "Lets go." She smirked and nodded. "Right. Lets go have some fun." We left the room and met Ed and Al out front.

"Well, we're off to lure Scar out. You better be ready Drake." I grinned. "And you better not let Scar beat you." He smiled and we all shook hands. We left Ed and Al to do their thing while me and Jess went to meet up with Ling. We found him hiding in an alley with his guard. "Well, we're ready. Are you?" he asked. I looked at the girl. "First, I never did catch your name." She looked right at me. "It's Lan Fan." I nodded. "Well, lets go."

We walked to the nearest church and climbed up to the steeple. We went out the window and sat on the roof to wait. "So tell me." Ling spoke. "If I may ask, why did you decide to marry a wolf girl?" Me and Jess stared at him shocked. "How did you know!?" He looked at me. "We can feel her chi, and it's mixed with that of a wolf. That, and her tail gave her away too." I looked over and sure enough, Jess's tail was peeking out of her pants. I face palmed. "I'm starting to hate you Ling."

"Oh don't worry. The secret is safe with me. I wont tell. I'm actually really happy for you two." Me and Jess both smiled. "Thanks, Ling. And to answer your question, I didn't marry a wolf girl. I married a human woman that just happens to be part wolf. There is a difference. And what about you? Do you have a special someone?" He chuckled at me. "Of course I do. But I'm not gonna tell you." I just looked at him. "You sly bastard. I'm gonna get you back. All I have to do is tell Jess to 'kill'." Me, Jess, and Ling all started laughing, while Lan Fan death glared me.

"So tell me, Ling. What is it like in..." I stopped talking when Jess put her hand on my shoulder and knelt down next to me. "That's a strange presence. You can sense it too Jess?" Ling suddenly spoke. "No, but I can smell him. Their here." We all stood up and I drew my sword in my right hand and gun in my left. "Well Jess, time to get changed for work." She nodded then took her shirt off, leaving only the stretch band across her chest. She transformed into her 'werewolf' form and we all took off after the enemy. Ling and Lan Fan took lead while Jess carried me on her back, cause she could jump the rooftops better.

We saw a big fat guy jumping across the rooftops and in mid jump, Lan Fan kicked his face hard, sending him into the building next to him. We all stopped on the roof next to the building. "Well hello there big guy." I called as he sat up. "Hi. Hows it going. That is one pretty unusual body you got there. Just how many people are inside you?" Ling asked. The big guy looked at each of us. "Who are you?" I aimed my gun right at his head. "I wouldn't try running big guy. They can sense your presence, and this wolf here can follow your scent. No matter where you go, we can follow you."

He looked at us oddly. "Follow? Me? Then I'll just eat you now." He opened his mouth and we could see his ouroboros tattoo on his tongue. "So, you're able to detect his presence, are you?" We all looked down at the road to see a man in a military uniform walking towards us. "What a minuet, you're…!" He drew a sword and tossed the sheath aside. "Well, that's quite the nuisance." He drew his other sword from his side, now holding a sword in each hand. "Lets take care of it." In a flash, he charged at Lan Fan at such an incredible speed.

I turned my gun and aimed at Lan Fan and fired, right as Fuhrer Bradley swung at her. "NO! LAN FAN!" Ling yelled. Bradley hit her, throwing her to the building roof. Bradley was just standing there and his right sword broke about two feet down the blade. He turned to me. "Very clever, Blade. You predicted where I was going to strike and shot." I clenched my teeth. "Can I eat her now?" big guy yelled. Bradley looked at Lan Fan. "Just make it quick." Big guy jumped off the building right at Lan Fan. But just before he got to her, me and Ling jumped at him and sliced him into three pieces.

Ling ran to Lan Fan. "Ling! Get her out of here! We'll hold them off! GO!" Ling picked her up and started running. But big guy popped up and clubbed him in the chest with his fist, sending him flying into a building next door. "Gluttony, take care of these two. I'm going to have a little chat with our foreign friend."... "Okay." He came at me and I shot him, sending him to the ground. "I wouldn't be so happy to take us on, you fool. We're tougher that you think." He healed and charged at me again, but Jess zipped past him on his flank and ripped him open with her claws. "Told you." We was screaming in pain and quicker than I could react, he slammed me, like Ling, into the air.

I was flying towards a building, but Jess jumped right behind me. She grabbed me close and took the blow herself. We landed in a small room and stood up. "You okay?" I asked. She did a dog like shiver to shake the debris out of her fur. "Yes, I'm fine." Gluttony popped up in the hole we made. "Found you!" He charged at me, but Jess kicked him down to the ground and I shot his head. "Damn it. Stay down!" Nope. He got back up again and punched me in the stomach. "Drake!" Jess charged him and gave him a full strength punch, sending him flying out the building. "Jess." I tried to breath, but that punch really did a number on me. "We can't fight him like this. We need help. Can you follow Eds scent?"

"Yes." I nodded and she picked me up. "Lets go. We'll lead him to Ed and trap him there." Jess nodded and jumped out the building. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop following the scent to Ed. We finally saw him and Al fighting a man, I assumed Scar, in a train yard. We stopped on a roof near the yard and sure enough, here comes Gluttony. He charged at Jess, but she moved at the last second, turned around, and gave him another full fledged punch in the gut. "Special delivery, Ed!" I yelled and he looked up to see Gluttony land right behind Scar. "Jess, you transform back and meet me down there." I jumped after him, running up behind Gluttony. "You again!" Scar spoke as Gluttony charged at him.

"Ishvalan!" Scar grabbed his arm, threw him down, and used his arm to explode his insides. Yeah, that didn't work. Gluttony threw him into a train car. Ed and Al both kicked him and he landed in the center of the yard. Jess ran up beside me as we all stared at Gluttony. Suddenly, there was a small explosion near us as a manhole cover flew into the air, followed by Ling. He had his sword in his mouth and was holding a small ball. He landed on Gluttony and shoved the ball down his throat. "Oh shit! Grenade!" I dropped to the ground and pulled Jess down with me. "Get down, Now!" he yelled and jumped of Gluttony.

A second later, he exploded, and within seconds, started regenerating. "Get me some strong cable!" Ling yelled at me. I ran to the train tracks and used my bracer arrays to change them into a thick, metal cable. Ling wrapped Gluttony up with it and as he healed, the cable got tighter. "Good thinking, Ling!" Gluttony = caught! We all stared at him while he tried to break free, but no luck. We heard gunshots coming from behind us and turned to see a car speeding for us. A shot hit Scar in the leg as the car drifted to a stop by Ling. "Put him in! We're getting out of here. And you too Drake, Jess!" the woman yelled. I didn't ask questions. After being hit by Gluttony, I was in no shape to fight. I knew I had to have at least a broken rib or two. I climbed in the front seat with Jess in front of me kneeling on the floor, head in my lap, trying to stay hidden.. Ling picked Gluttony up and set him in the back. Then he jumped on. We sped off, leaving the brothers to deal with Scar. I slid down the seat a little to hide that I was there. "I know who you are, Ling Yao. Don't worry. We're on our way to a secure safe house." Ling bent down to talk to Hawkeye, (yeah, it was that obvious) "My friend, I left her behind. Go get her!"

"What? No, we can't. We don't have time." I grabbed my watch and showed it to Hawkeye. "Make time! That's an order, Lieutenant!" She glared at me. "Fine, just make it quick!" We turned left at the next street and zoomed to where Ling left Lan Fan. We stopped in an alley, and Ling, Jess and I jumped out. Ling pulled a manhole cover away and there she was. "Jess, transform and get her out. You have the strength right now." She looked down and covered her nose. "You owe me for this, freak!" She changed, hopped down, grabbed her, then jumped back up. Jess put her in the back and changed back to normal.

We all got back in the car and sped off. We left the city and drove out to the woods to a small cabin. "Jess, you get that 'thing' inside. I'll grab Lan Fan." Jess sighed. "Why do I have to do all the heavy work?" I looked at her. "Cause your the big bad wolf, you idiot." She bared her teeth. "We'll settle this later, freak!" She changed again, picked Gluttony up, and took him inside. I set Lan Fan on a bed as Ling ran up to me. Because of my army training, I had some first aid knowledge. I grabbed a bed sheet and pressed it to her shoulder where her arm was missing. I turned to Hawkeye. "I can slow the bleeding down, but if she doesn't get a doctor soon, she's dead!"

Hawkeye left to the car to contact the Colonel on the radio. "What can I do?" Ling asked, tears in his eyes. I grabbed him and shoved him down next to Lan Fan. "Be here for her! Keep her awake! Lieutenant! We need that doctor now!"


	46. The Monster Inside

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Monster Inside

Jess POV

We waited about two hours before the Colonel arrived with a doctor for Lan Fan. The doctor walked over and started working on Lan Fans injury. I walked over to my husband who was sitting on the floor outside the room. "Honey, lets take a look at that injury, okay?" He nodded then lifted his shirt up. The area where Gluttony had hit him was completely bruised and turned purple. "Sorry love, but I need to see if anythings broken." He smiled at me. "Just don't kill me." I wanted to slap him, but I held back. I started touching the area and feeling around it. I stopped when I felt something pointy under the skin.

"You've got at least one broken rib, maybe two. Try not to move, honey." He chuckled. "Yes mommy." Now I had to slap him, but only just a light smack on his face. "Freak. Love you." He pulled me over and kissed me. "Same here." After a while, the doctor was finished with Lan Fan. While she rested, we all walked over to the room where Gluttony was. The doctor walked up. "Hey, what do we have here?" Ling frowned. "That's Gluttony. He's a homunculus." The doctor gasped. "He and his friends seem to have connections among some of the military's senior staff." the Colonel stated. Ling turned to him.

"Just some you say? It goes far deeper than that." They all looked at him. "Your Fuhrer, King Bradley, I believe it's possible he's a homunculus too. He had an ouroboros tattoo on his eye, the one under the patch." Drake jumped in. "And he and Gluttony were working together. He's the one who caused Lan Fan to lose her arm." They began discussing the matter of Bradley and his son, then started arguing about who was going to take him. After a minuet, the doctor turned to walk away. "I'm too old for this sort of thing. Good luck, Mustang. I'm going home."

A second later we heard Gluttony fight against the cables and stand up. "Roy Mustang!" His stomach flew open to reveal a black hole, and there was a large eye in the center. _Something is coming! MOVE!_ I pushed everyone out of the way as 'something' flew past us. We looked back to see that a part of the house was gone! It just disappeared! "Colonel! What's going on!" _It's coming again!_ "HAWKEYE, STOP!" I yelled. The 'something', flew out again and took more on the house with it! Part of the house collapsed on top of us. Mustang pushed the debris off of him. "Lieutenant, don't provoke him! I'm the one he wants!"

"MUSTANG!" Gluttony turned to us. _Shit!_ "GET DOWN!" Out 'it' came again. We ran from the house and I changed forms. "Lets go! We have to bring him down!" Mustang yelled. Al gasped. "But we worked so hard to catch one of the homunculi!" Drake drew his sword and gun. "He's right Al! That 'thing' is eating everything! And he's seen our faces, we can't let him live!" he yelled. The Colonel snapped his fingers and encased Gluttony in a wrath of flames. Gluttony started howling in pain as the flames consumed him. _It's coming again!_

Suddenly, the eye grew in size as the flames were sucked into it. We all stared, dumbfounded, at what just happened. "He swallowed it? Ed asked. "Uh oh." Drake followed. We started running for our lives into the forest. Ed and Mustang started arguing. "All of you shut up! We need to split up! Into the woods!" Drake yelled. We all went a different way into the woods. I could smell the 'thing', and it wasn't following me. I heard numerous gunshots coming from the woods, including Drakes big gun. I ran through the woods until I ran into Drake. "Honey!" I grabbed him in a hug, but he pushed me away, grabbed my hand and started running. "Not the damn time, Jess! We gotta get outta here now!" We ran back to the house ruins and the doctor was waiting with the car. Ed and Al were carrying Mustang over their shoulders.

We suddenly heard Gluttony yell out in pure anger from the woods. "He does not sound very happy." I stated. "It sounds like he fell for the 'Mustang decoy'." Ed followed. We put the Colonel in the car and closed the door.

Drake POV

We got the Colonel into the car and closed the door. Ed told him that he was useless right now and needed to leave. And now Ed and Al were arguing with Mustang. Finally, he shut up. After telling them that we were staying to kill Gluttony, Hawkeye gave Ed one of her guns. She told him to use it for protection. I walked up to her and pulled my gun out. "Here Riza. Your better with it than me." She looked at me shocked. "Drake, I can't take this." I tapped the handle of the gun on her head. "Yes you can, because it's a gift, idiot." She just stared at me. "Besides, I prefer swordplay than gun fights."

She took the gun and she shook my hand. "I'll make sure it goes to good use." I chuckled. "Knowing you, I can only fear so." She smiled and then we left, Lan Fan calling out for Ling. We ran into the woods to find Gluttony. We finally found him and he was furious, cause he was 'eating' everything in sight! We watched from behind the bushes, trying to figure out how to deal with him in that state. Ling and Jess both turned to look behind us. We saw a dog standing on the hill a ways from us. "A dog?" Al asked.

"Stop it! Now Gluttony!" the dog spoke and Gluttony froze. "A talking dog?" Ed stated. "Hey, long time, no see." it spoke again. We watched in aw as it began to change shape to a..man...woman...I couldn't tell. "How are you, Fullmetal pipsqueak?" Ed charged at the...person, and started ranting about...lets just go with 'him', calling Ed a pipsqueak. He jumped away from Ed and Gluttony ran up to him. "Mustang was here! Must avenge Lust! Swallow, swallow, swallow him up!" The guy looked at him. "You don't get the Colonel. Or the Elric brothers." Now Gluttony was upset. "Why not?"

"And who are you?" I asked pointing at the guy. "That's Envy." Ed answered. Now I remembered the picture Alex drew in the Xerxes ruins. "I've sensed this multiplicity before. How many people are inside you, homunculus?" Ling asked and Envy stared at him. "I know you. You're the kid who crossed swords with Wrath, aren't you?" Ling twitched. "What do you mean kid? I happen to be the twelfth son of the Emperor of Xing! My name is.."…."Eat him." Envy told Gluttony. He started chasing Ling through the woods. "Well, Ed. This proves your theory that they can't kill you." I stated. "In which case.." Ed stated and clapped his hands and transmuted a wall between Ling and Gluttony.

"Ling! You get that one!" Ed yelled and he and Al ran after Gluttony. "Lets go Jess. We'll help Ling!" She nodded and we both joined Ling in his fight with Envy. We walked up to Ling and got ready. "Hmm. Very well. Let's see how good you all are." We charged at him. "You held off against Wrath, but how will you do against me?" I swung at Envy as Jess jumped over me and we hit him at the same time. But he immediately turned and hit me, by his luck, where Gluttony had before. Jess looked at me, then continued fighting Envy.

Jess POV

I saw Envy hit Drake in the side where Gluttony did earlier, and he fell to the ground. I wanted to go to my husband, but I had a fight to finish for him. I charged at Envy again and slashed his back open. He turned around and took a swing at me, but I jumped back and avoided it. "Ha. Is that all you got, freak!" This set Envy off the deep end, cause he charged at me with his hands that he had turned into blades. He swung with the first and missed, but the second one got me across the right leg. I yelped in pain, but came right back at him. He grabbed Ling by the neck with his, now, snake arm, and held a blade hand to his throat. "So, what shall it be? Strangled to death? Bitten to death? Or just carved up into little bitty pieces?" Ling laughed.

"None of the above." Ling said as he dropped his sword into the ground and kicked dirt into Envys eyes. He grabbed Envys blade arm and used it to cut himself free. _Now's my chance._ I charged at Envy and sliced him clean in half. When he landed, something seemed odd to me. His body dug deep into the ground when it landed. He quickly healed himself. "That was a dirty trick. Blinding me, that's not playing fair!" Ling walked to him. "People have been trying to assassinate me since I was a kid. Under the circumstances, you can't blame a guy for learning how to fight dirty." Drake walked up to me. "You okay, dear?" He stared at Envy, but nodded. "Enough of this bullshit! Lets kill him!" Drake yelled. We both charged at Envy and as we got ready to strike him, he changed into Lan Fan. We were all stunned.

Suddenly, Ed and Al were thrown through the wall and Gluttony stepped through. Envy smiled. "Go for it Gluttony!" _Shit! It's coming again!_ "DRAKE!" I ran at him to try and pull him away, but it was too late. Gluttony did what he does best, and 'ate' at us, swallowing Ed, Ling, Drake, and I in the void. For the very brief second as it happened, I had a million thoughts run through my mind. _He's eating us! All of us! No, not Drake! Not my husband! My love! Please, not him! NOOO!_ The last thing I remembered was being taken into a black void, and carried away. _At least….I died...'with' my husband._

 **Splash.**

I opened my eyes, and saw…...red? I was laying in some red water or something. I smelled it, BLOOD! I jumped up and looked around. I was in some kind of…..pit, of sorts. I saw old buildings, ruins, and skeletal remains, everywhere. "Hello?" No answer. "Can anyone hear me!?" I yelled. Again, no answer. Beyond the ruins and such, all I could see was…..black. Just ….nothing. _Where the hell am I? Am I….in hell?_ I changed forms, and I continued to look around, but saw nothing. I suddenly heard splashing sounds behind me. I readied myself for a strike. But as I looked, I saw a familiar face. Tears came to my eyes as I watched him approach. "Dr...Drake!?"


	47. The Pit Of Hell

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Pit Of Hell

Drake POV

 **Splash.**

"What the hell?" I sat up after landing and saw that I was sitting in some red liquid. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was….BLOOD! I jumped up and looked around. The last thing I remembered was Jess yelling my name and running at me, then….nothing. "Where….am I?" As I looked around, I saw lots of old buildings and ruins. "Uh, hello?" I didn't hear a thing. "Hello!?"….Nothing. I looked in the distance and saw nothing but black. "What the hell? Where the hell am I?" I started to walk and look for any clues as to where I was. "Can anyone hear me!?" I heard a familiar voice say. "Jess?" I ran to the voice and stopped when I saw someone. I slowly walked to the person.

She turned to me. "Dr...Drake!?" she spoke. "Jess!?" I ran to her, but stopped ten feet away and held up my sword. She was shocked. "Are you really Jess? Or are you Envy?" I demanded. She froze. "And what about you? Are you Envy?" she asked. We stared at each other for a moment. "Show it to me!" she demanded. "What?" I asked. "You know what I mean! Show it to me!" I thought for a second, then realized what she meant. I reached into my shirt and pulled out my wedding ring that I kept on a chain around my neck. "Here. Good enough for ya?" She smiled and started to run to me. "STOP!" She froze, shocked that I was holding my sword, touching the blade to her throat. I death glared her.

"What is the name of my oldest sister? And how long ago did she die?" She stared at me with tears in her eyes. "What? Baby, it's me."….."ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!" I yelled. She was completely shocked., but her gaze turned stern. "Her name was Elizebeth, and it was your 'younger' sister that died!" I smiled at her, lowered my sword, and encased her in a hug. We kissed each other over and over a million times. "Drake, I thought I lost you!" We continued kissing. "I thought the same, damn wolf!" She slapped me on the head and kissed me again. "Drake, where are we?"

"I don't know, honey. But where ever it is, we need to find Ed and Ling. I think they ended up here with us." Jess nodded and we started walking, Jess clinging hard as ever to my arm. We walked for what seemed like hours, until we saw two familiar faces. "Ed, Ling!" Me and Jess ran to them and they ran to us. But we all stopped feet from each other. "I know there's not two Envys, so I know that one of you is the real thing. Ed!" He turned to me. "What's the one thing you fear more than Winrys wrench? And Ling, what did I order the day we met?" Ed and Ling looked at each other, then to me.

"Your gun." Ed answered. "Two lemonades at the cafe." Ling followed. "Okay, good. Your real." I said and Ed pointed at me. "Oh yeah? You showed me a picture on the train to Central, what was it of? And you," he pointed at Jess. "When did granny marry you two?" Me and Jess looked at each other, then back to them. A tear came to my eye as I answered. "There were two pictures, Ed. One of my family from ten years ago, and one of my younger sisters birthday at her grave." Jess looked at me and wiped the tear away. "And granny never married us. We married ourselves." Jess answered. Ed and Ling sighed.

We walked to each other and exchanged hugs. "So where are we Ed?" Jess asked. Ed looked around. "Well, somehow, we think that we're inside Gluttony's stomach." Me and Jess froze. "So, he really did 'eat' us?" Ed turned to me. "I think so. And there's nowhere to go." Ed explained how he and Ling made a well and dropped a torch in it to see how deep it was, and that they ran for miles to find no wall. "Well, we can't just stand here. Lets start walking." I stated. We walked for hours until we came to some kind of platform and decided to stop for a rest.

We layed back on our backs and caught our breath. "So hungry. I wish we could find some food." Ling complained. "Well actually, you know..." Ed started and sat up. "Leather goods are edible. We've got a meal." I sat up as well and took both my shoes off. Jess looked at me with worry when she saw my metal feet. "Jess?" She shook her head. "Sorry. I just keep forgetting about your legs, dear. Don't mind me." I smiled and handed my shoes to Ed. He transmuted some water and a pot from the blood and started cooking the shoes.

After a while, the 'meal' was ready. Ed scooped enough to split it into four and gave everyone a bowl. "You don't have athletes foot, do you?" Ling asked and I face palmed. "His foot and mine are made of metal, you stupid idiot." I flatly stated. We ate the 'dinner', then layed down again. "Oh man. Those shoes filled me up." Ed stated. Ed and Ling began talking to each other while me and Jess had our own conversation. "You know, I wonder where we really are." I stated. Jess clutched me tighter. "I'm sorry, Drake. It's my fault." she spoke and I turned to her. "Oh really? Please tell me how that is." Tears came to her eyes. "My senses told me that Gluttony was going to 'eat' again. I had a warning of it. And I couldn't get you away. It's my fault you're here." I sat up, sat her up, then slapped her.

"It's not. It's not your fault. Not stop acting like this before you really piss me off. I'm sick of you blaming yourself every time I get so much as a scratch. Not everything is your fault. So stop acting like it is. Okay?" Tears fell from her face and she hugged me. "Sorry. I really don't mean to be like this. Sometimes….sometimes I can't stop my wolf side from thinking for me." I patted her head. "Well, you are a 'dumb' wolf after all." She pushed away from me and started pounding my chest with her fists. "You take that back! Take it back, you mean freak!" Ed and Ling just chuckled at us.

Jess suddenly stopped hitting me and stood up, as did Ling. They were staring into the distance. "Jess?" She didn't answer. She just kept staring. Me and Ed turned to where they were looking, and could see a faint figure in the distance. "I should have known. It's definitely you guys." It was Envy! Ed yelled at Envy, and him and Ling got into an argument. "It doesn't matter, cause there is no exit." We all gasped and stared at Envy. "You've really gotten us into a fine mess. I can't believe you got me swallowed with you."

"Wait, swallowed? So we really are inside Gluttony's stomach?" Ling asked. "Well, yes and no. You see, it's a bit more complicated than that." Envy began to explain what Gluttony truly was, a 'defective portal of 'Truth' '. He then told us that there was absolutely no way out. Me and Jess fell to our knees. "No. It can't be. We can't die here. We just can't" Jess spoke as she began to break down. I grabbed her and held her tight. "NO! I know your lieing Envy! I know it! Your lieing!" Ed yelled. Then he and Ling fell apart. He then came back to his senses. "I want to know who your 'father' is. Who would try to create their own portal? It's Fuhrer Bradley, isn't it!?" Envy just sat there. "What? Are you serious? Nice try, but King Bradley is nothing more than a homunculus." I glared at him. "Told you so." Ling stated. Ed and Envy then talked about a war that had happened before I even got here. But something pissed Ed off. Cause he slowly walked over to Envy and threw a punch at him.

"Ed, no! Stop!" Jess yelled and Ed was shocked. "Okay then. If 'that's' how you want it." I stood up and readied my sword as Jess transformed. "Ed! Get back!" Ling yelled. Ed stepped away from Envy. "I'm going to show you all something neat before we die. Consider it a parting gift." Envy said as me and Jess walked up. "Jess, you noticed his footprints in the forest, didn't you?" Ling asked. "Yeah, I did. He's way to heavy for his size." she answered. We all watched as Envy grew into a large monster. "Well shit. This don't look good." I stated. I used my arrays and made a sword for Ling and tossed it to him. We all charged at Envy, attacking him any way we could.

Jess jumped on his back and started slashing with her claws. Envy tried to get her off, but while he was distracted, Ed, Ling, and I all went after his legs. "Enough!" Envy yelled as he slammed a stone wall, and threw the pieces at us. Ed and Ling managed to dodge them, but one piece hit my left leg, breaking the parts inside. I fell to my knee as Envy threw another boulder at me. "Got ya!" I couldn't move fast enough to get out of the way. Suddenly, Jess was in front of me, and let the boulder hit her, throwing her thirty feet away, and knocking her out. "Jess!" I stood up and wobbled over to her "Jess!"

I happened to turn and notice Ed get 'grabbed' by Envys tongue and pulled into his mouth. I watched in horror as Envy slammed his mouth shut on Ed. "ED! NO!" I yelled and again fell to my knees. _Gone? No! He can't be gone! Ed...gone? It's just not possible! No!_ Jess woke back up and wobbled over to me. "I'm sorry, Drake. I tried." She wrapped me in a hug from the back as tears flowed from my eyes. "Ed…..no….." Suddenly, Envys front tooth was kicked out and we saw an automail leg sticking out the hole where the tooth was.

We all gasped, including Envy. "Open up Envy! Your breath is killing me!" We watched as the 'leg' just kicked around. "Ed?" me and Jess said dumbfounded. "I think I've got a way to get us out of here!" Everyone gasped. "Come on Envy! Let me out!" We watched as Envy opened his mouth and Ed came out. "ED!" Jess yelled and ran to him, encasing him in a hug. I just smiled, as did Ling. I wobbled over. "So, Ed. What's this plan of yours?"


	48. Meeting Father

**The Blade Alchemist**

Meeting Father

Drake POV

Ed had sent Envy off to find some fragments of some kind of stone slab, while Jess took a look at my leg. I could move the knee, but the ankle wouldn't move. I transmuted a couple of basic tools for her to use and she was pulling the cover plate off. I suddenly coughed up some blood into my hand. "Drake." I looked at her. "I'm fine, honey. I think the broken rib is hitting something inside." She let out a sigh. "Drake, please don't do this. You're not thinking of 'us'. If you keep doing thing this, you'll die. Do you really think that I can go on if you do?" I smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Thanks, honey. Love you too." She moaned and pinched her nose. "Yeah, love you too." She dropped the matter and got back to my leg. "So, whats the verdict?" She took a close look at the inside then at me. "The leg needs an overhaul. I'm not skilled enough for this and don't have the parts anyway. As for your ankle, the nerves just disconnected. I can reconnect them, but it will only be a temporary fix." I nodded as she began working on the nerves. Envy came back and dropped a slab near Ed. "I've collected all the fragments I could find." Envy stated.

Jess finished up my leg as Ed began discussing his plan for getting us out of this hell. He explained that if Gluttony was a defective portal, then opening the real one could get us back. "Ed, are you sure about this? This isn't exactly like baking a cake here." I asked. "Yeah. What happens if it goes wrong?" Envy followed. Ed looked at Envy. "Then it'll rebound. A failed transmutation ricochet's onto the one who performed it. In this case, that would be me." We all stared at him. "I'm not going to act like I know anything about alchemy. This is all yours." Ling finally spoke.

Ed and Envy began to discuss what had happened to Xerxes, for the entire country to fall in one night. Finally, Envy stepped forward. "You need to pay a toll, right? To open the portal?" he asked then stuck out his tongue. We could all see a small glowing red stone in the center. "This should work." I gasped. "Is that….a Philosophers Stone!?" I asked and Ling gasped. Ed and Envy argued about the souls in the stone, and finally, they both came to terms. Ed drew the array and Envy sat in it towards the side.

I turned to my wife. "You ready, honey?" She looked at me and shook her head. "Not yet." She leaned over and kissed me. "Now I am." We both smiled and turned to Ed as he activated the array. We watched as the 'eye' in the center opened. "Everyone, jump in!" We all looked at the array sceptically. "You better know what you're doing! I'm trusting you!" Ling yelled and stepped onto the array. He began to be deconstructed and slowly disappeared. Me and Jess looked at each other, nodded, then held hands tightly. We both stepped in and watched as our bodies were broken apart. All I could remember next, was a white void.

I was standing in the all too familiar white void. The same place I came to before I ended up in Amestris. **"** **Well well. It's good to see you again, young warrior."** I turned around to see 'Truth' staring at me with his evil smile. "Why am I here? Where's my wife!?" He just smiled more. **"She is fine. She is on her way to the real world. I brought you here to have a little talk."** I clenched my teeth. "What do you want from me? What more can you take from me without taking my life?"

 **I'm not going to take anything. After all, you didn't open the portal, you're just passing by."** We just stared at each other. "Then what do you want? Lets get this over with." He chuckled. **"But of course. I'm giving you a chance** **to get** **your sense back. What would you give for it? An arm is not enough, not even** **both** **. So what would your offer?"** I gasped and my eyes went wide. "My….sense...back?" He just stared at me. "Even if I decided to give my arms, you say their not enough. What the hell could I possibly have that would match your toll!?" He pointed at my head and I froze. **"** **Your memories."**

"What!? My memories!? Explain!" He smiled even more. **"Your memories, of your old world."** I glared at him. "What do you mean by that?" He chuckled. **"It's quite simple, young warrior. Your home, your friends, your family. All of it. Everything you remember from your old world. Twenty-six years of memories, for your sense of touch back. I hold things that are mental in higher value than those that are physical. So what do you say? Shall we make the deal?"**

 _My family? I wont...remember them? I want my sense back, b_ _ut_ _is it really worth throwing away my old family?_ **"Well? Whats your choice?"** I fell to my knees and began crying. "I...I...I want to feel again. I want to be able to feel her. But is it really worth giving up my family? I...I...can't decide…." He frowned. **"Very well. I do owe you for pulling you to this world against your will, so I will give you three days to make your decision,** **as a gift** **. I will bring you here again, at that time. Now go, young warrior."** With that, the gate opened and pulled me into it, through a white tunnel, to darkness.

I landed in a plop and slowly opened my eyes. I was in a dark room with metal pipelines running all over the place. As I turned around, I saw that I had landed on Envy. "Envy?" I heard a man with a deep voice spoke. _Where's my wife!?_ I quickly looked around and found her laying next to me, just waking up herself. "Jess!" She turned to me and wrapped me in a hug. "Drake! We're back, together!" We kissed, then stood up. That's when I noticed Al kneeling on the floor by Ed. "Al! Your okay!" Jess and I ran to them. "This is somewhat surprising. People emerging from his stomach."

We all quickly turned to the voice to see…..Hohenheim? Jess suddenly tightened up and I looked at her. "Jess?" She was barring her teeth and staring right at the man. "There's…..something….not right about him." she stated. Ed and the man had a quick conversation about who they where. The man grabbed Eds broken arm and he yelped in pain. "Your arm is broken." He turned to Al. "And you're missing your hand." He touched Als arm and we watched as his hand reappeared with alchemy. The man then touched Eds broken arm and did alchemy again. "There. How is that for you?" Ed ripped off his splint and flexed his fingers. "It's...it's not broken anymore!"

The man then felt his side and used alchemy again to fix his broken ribs. "I consider the two of you to be vital resources. You must both remain alive and healthy." He then turned to me, and Jess started to growl. He walked over and Jess stood in front of me. "Don't you dare come near us!" she yelled as he stopped right in front of us. "You are not vital to me, yet. But I believe that you will be." He reached down and touched Jess's cut leg and it healed. "Because your his wife, consider this a gift." He walked around her and touched my side, healing my broken ribs. "This is a gift as well, my future resource." Ling jumped in. "You aren't human! What are you!? What the hell is inside you!?"

The man stared at him. "I could ask who you are, but I really don't care." The man turned to walk back to a chair in the middle of the room. "You can eat him." he said to Gluttony. Ed, Al, Jess, and I ran over to Ling. Ed and the man argued about Lings life and about the point of a human life. It ended with Ed and Al transmuting the pipes into thick cables to capture the man. "Got you now, boss man!" Ed yelled, but the man broke the cables into tiny pieces without even flinching. Envy joined in and tried to stomp on Ed, but he dodged.

"Ed, Al, you get him! We'll get Gluttony!" I yelled as Jess transformed and we took off after Gluttony. Jess grabbed my shirt collar and threw me at him, me slicing him in half as I flew passed him. As I landed, Jess slashed at him, cutting him open. I ran back to strike again. "This is a waste of time!" the man spoke as he lifted his foot, and stepped down. Red sparks flew everywhere around him, then stopped. Then he caused the pipes to turn into cables and wrap around me and Jess. Gluttony charged at Ling, throwing him over his shoulder, then sat on top of him. I coughed up blood again and faded into darkness.

"DRAKE!" I woke up to Jess yelling my name. I looked over and Jess was in her human form and Ling was holding her arms. "Drake! Wake up!" I saw that I wasn't bound anymore, so I stood up. "Take them all to Wrath. And Greed, you keep watch on the girl until he is done with them." _What? Greed?_ "Sure thing pops." Ling took Jess away. "Ling! What the hell.."..."Shut up and lets go!" Envy yelled at me. I walked over to him and he escorted Ed, Al, and myself through some hallways. We entered an elevator and took it up. _What the hell? Why was Ling carrying Jess away? What the hell happened while I was out!?_

When the doors opened, we saw that we were….in Central Command!? Envy had changed into a soldier and led us down the hall to the shower room. "You guys are plastered with filth. Get cleaned up, and don't try anything." We all stared at each other, but entered the room. I took my shower and the brothers talked about where we just were, under the Command Center. Ed told Al about seeing his body in the gate, while just thought about what I saw.

 _My sense back….he's offering my sense back. For my memories. What do I do? It's a lose-lose situation. I make the deal, I lose my family. If I don't, I'll never be able to feel my wife, my friends, anything._ Envy just then burst through the door. "Hey, whats the hold up? Get a move on!" Envy stopped talking as he stood right in front of a naked Ed. They both screamed. _I'll have to discuss this with Ed and Al. I can't make this decision alone. And I can't tell Jess._ We left the shower room and walked down the hall. We stopped at a door and the plaque read, 'Fuhrer King Bradley'.


	49. The Deals

**The Blade Alchemist**

The Deals

Drake POV

We walked into the Fuhrers office to find him sitting at a table drinking tea. We also saw Mustang sitting across from him looking around to us. _So...Wrath…..is King Bradley!?_ We walked up to Mustang as he began to explain that all his subordinates were transferred to all corners of the country, and Hawkeye was now Bradleys personal assistant. "Go ahead and take a seat." Bradley….no, Wrath spoke. We all sat down and stared at Wrath. There was a cold silence for quite a while. Suddenly, we all heard a 'cough' come from inside Al. Before anyone could say anything, Ed spoke up.

He asked about the Fuhrers visit to him in the hospital and Wrath explained that we would be free to do as we wish, as long as we did not get in their way. Ed tossed his State Alchemist watch at Wrath, saying he resigned, I followed suit. Ed told him that he was going to warn everyone about their plans. "What was that young girls' name again? Ah, yes. It's Winry Rockbell." We all froze. Wrath told us in full detail about her and her life. Ed stood up and slammed his hand on the table. "You stay away from her! Just leave her out of this!" Ed glared at Wrath with pure fury in his eyes.

"Well, that's up to you." Wrath said as he tossed Ed back his watch. "If you will not take it, then I will have to simply cut her down." Ed clenched his teeth, then placed his watch back in his pocket. "How thoughtful." Wrath spoke, then he and Al discussed about letting them continue their search to get their bodies back. Wrath told him that they could, then turned to Mustang. They had a brief discussion on what he would do. Mustang said that he didn't care what they do, he had his own plans for his life, and kept his watch.

Wrath turned to me. "And as for you, Blade Alchemist. You already know what I have against you. You keep your title, and no harm will come to her. I'll even make sure she is protected. Even give you a marriage certificate." He tossed my watch back to me as well as the marriage certificate he spoke of. I just glared at him. "You leave me with no choice for right now. But be warned, 'Wrath', that I will kill you myself! THAT, is a promise!" I clearly stated then put my watch back in my pocket and took the certificate. "I look forward to the day you try, Blade." he calmly stated. "Same here, Wrath." He chuckled. "We have nothing more to discuss." We all stood up and turned to walk away, but Mustang stopped. He asked Wrath if he had killed Huges, but Wrath said that he did not.

We left the room and I saw Jess sitting on the couch in the office lobby. "Jess!" I yelled and she turned to me, tears in her eyes. "Honey!" We ran to each other and kissed. "Are you okay?" I asked and she slapped me. "Do I look okay, freak?" We both chuckled and left the room after the brothers and Mustang. Ed asked him for some money and he gave Ed some change from his pocket. "Ed, me and Jess are going to the hotel. We both need to relax a minuet. We'll see you tonight." Ed nodded then ran off.

Me and Jess got to the hotel and took a long shower, holding each other. After the shower, we sat on the couch and Jess explained what had happened after I blacked out. "So, Ling was turned into Greed. And then there's Scar and that little girl. So what should we do now?" We sat in silence for a while. I pulled out the certificate that Wrath gave me and explained everything that happened in his office. Jess was happy about the certificate, but not so about how I got it. "Jess." She didn't move. "I'm sorry I got you into this." She started to cry. "No. It's not your fault. I wanted to help. I'm in this because 'I' chose to be. Not you." She grabbed my arm and just sat there. We didn't say a word for the rest of the night.

We went to bed and Jess fell asleep crying. I looked at her and saw she was in deep sleep. I got out of bed quietly, as not to wake her. I looked at her with tears in my eyes, and left the room. I walked over to Eds room and knocked. "Who is it?" he asked. I sighed. "It's Drake, Ed. I need to speak with you and Al." I heard him walk to the door and he opened it. "Where's Jess?" I shook my head. "This is not for her to hear, Ed." He nodded and we walked to the bedroom. I sat on the couch while they sat across from me. "What is it Drake?" Al asked. I sighed again. "Promise me you wont say anything to Jess. Please." They looked at each other, then back to me. "We promise." Ed answered.

I took a deep breath, and let it out. "I….saw 'Truth' again." They both gasped. "What!? What did he do!?" I just sat there with my head lowered. "He….gave me…..an offer." Again, the brothers looked at each other then me. "And?" Ed asked. I took another breath. "He offered my sense of touch back." They gasped again. "For what!?" Ed demanded. I reached into my pocket and pulled the photos out. I looked at the photos, then handed them to Ed. "This." Ed looked at the photos, then me with a confused look. "What do you mean?" A tear ran down my face.

"My memories." Again they gasped. "Explain!" Ed demanded again. I took another breath. "'Truth' offered me my sense back, for all my memories….of my old world. All of it. Twenty-six years…..of memories." Ed and Al just stared at me, Ed with wide eyes. "What? All of them?" Al asked and I nodded. "He told me he would give me three days to decided, and that it was my last chance ever to get my sense back. If I accept, I will never know who they are anymore, where I came from. They will be gone. Everything, will be gone. The earliest thing I will remember, will be waking up in Winrys house that day we met."

Ed had tears in his eyes, and Al looked like he was crying to. "I can't decided on my own guys. I want your opinion. I...I just...I just want..." My voice kept choking up with tears. "I just want to be able to feel her. I...I don't know what to do." I placed my face in my hands and started crying. Ed and Al didn't say anything. "Drake." Al spoke. I looked at him. "What would your family want? Don't think what you or Jess would want, but what would your family want." I placed my face back into my hands. "But….what would they want? What would they want me to do?" Ed stood up, walked over to me, and placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, my face completely covered in tears.

"They would want you…." Ed started, then sighed. "To be happy, Drake. They would want you and Jess to be happy. Wouldn't they?" I stared at him and nodded. "Then do what makes you happy." Ed walked away and left the room. Al followed, leaving me alone in the room. I sat there crying, thinking on what Ed had said to me. I couldn't believe it. A sixteen year old teen, giving a twenty-six year old soldier a lecture. But regardless of that, he was right. My family would want me to be happy. I wiped my tears away and stood up, head lowered. "Truth, I KNOW you can hear me." I mumbled under my breath. "I don't need more time, I've made my decision. Call on me in one hour!"

I left Eds room and went back to mine. I walked into the bedroom and turned on the light, which woke Jess up. "What are you doing, Drake?" she asked annoyed. I sat on the couch and pointed at the one in front of me. "Sit." She looked at me confused, but walked over and sat down. "Honey?" I sighed. I explained everything I talked to Ed about. She just stared at me wide eyed as I finished. "Dra.." I held my hand up to stop her. "No, Jess. Not this time. 'I' am making this decision on my own. I promised I wouldn't keep secrets from you, and I didn't. But this is for me to decide, alone. Nothing you say will change my mind." She stared at me with tears in her eyes.

"Then….what did you decide? Please….tell me." I shook me head. "You'll find out, when I return." I looked at my watch and saw that almost an hour had past since I 'spoke' to 'Truth' "If he heard me, then he'll take me away any minuet. Jess..." she looked at me with worried eyes. "Trust me. It's my choice." She ran over and kissed me. "Okay, I trust you. Whatever you decide, I'll always love you." I smiled. "I don't know whats going to happen here when he takes me, so please don't worry. Promise?" She smiled, kissed me again, and grabbed me into a hug. "I promise." I pulled her away to look at her face, but as I did, I blacked out and my body fell to the floor. "Drake!"

I was in the white void again, and saw the stone door. I turned around, and saw him, 'Truth'." We just stared at each other a moment. **"So, you've made your decision have you?"** I nodded. "Yes, I have." He smiled even more. **"And you're sure about the decision your going to make? Absolutely sure? Remember, whatever you decide now, you will live with that decision for the rest of your life."** I pulled the two pictures out of my pocket and looked at them, tears coming to my eyes. "I love them too much. Too much for my own good. My parents, they gave me life, raised me, taught me everything. My brother and sisters, we always fought each other. Every time we fought, someone walked away with a cut or gash. But we loved each other to death."

Tears were now flowing from my eyes. "I don't want to forget them, it's wrong to. After what my family did for me all those years, it's just wrong to." I dropped my hand to my side and lowered my head. I sat there while 'Truth' watched me. "But." I lifted my head and glared at him. "They would want me to be happy! They would want me to do anything it takes to be happy. They want me to be happy!" I yelled at him as I placed my hands together and tore the photos up. "They will never, ever stop loving me! Nor I them! I may not be able to remember them, but regardless, I WILL ALWAYS LOVE THEM! I ACCEPT THE DEAL! TAKE THE MEMORIES, ALL OF THEM, AND GIVE ME BACK MY SENSE OF TOUCH!

'Truth' started laughing. **"Well done! You win!"** He leaped at me and pressed his 'hand' to my forehead. I could see all of my memories being taken from my mind, year after year of memories. The last thing of my past that I saw, was my mother, waving goodbye to me the day I left for deployment. The last time I ever saw her, or ever will. The picture faded, and for the first time in six months, I felt pain. I felt the pain as he reached into my head and 'placed' something there. He leaped away from me and stood there. **"You won this time, warrior. But the fight, is far from over."** That was the last thing he said, before the gate pulled me in. Leaving the last thing I saw was his smile, but it was not evil, it was….happy.

"Ahhhh" I yelled as I jolted upright in bed. I clutched my chest and tried to breath slowly to slow my heart rate down. "Drake!" I looked beside me and Jess was sitting there next to me, crying. "Drake, are you..." I held my hand up and stopped her. "Shut up, and don't move." She looked at me shocked. "What?" I glared at her. "I said, shut, up!" She froze. I slowly raised my hand close to her face, but didn't touch her. My hand trembled as she watched me with wide eyes. I very slowly pressed my hand to her cheek. _I….I...I can...feel her. Her warmth. I can….feel._ "I…..feel….you." She gasped. "What…...did you…..say?" She asked. My hand was shaking like crazy. "I can...feel you...Your….warm." Her eyes grew wider as she placed her hand over mine.

"You...feel me?" I swallowed then nodded. She smiled as wide as she could, then grabbed my face with both her hands. "Then feel this." She pulled me into a kiss, and we held it for what seemed hours. Ed and Al then barged in the door. "What happened!? We heard yelling!" I looked at him and smirked. "I think you know damn well what, Elric." I got up, walked over to him, and placed my hand on his shoulder. "You took it, didn't you?" Ed asked and I nodded. "And proud of it. My old world is gone, for good. Now, I truly belong here." Me and Ed shook hands as Jess walked up to me. "Drake." I turned back to her and she grabbed me into a tight hug and kiss. After a minuet, she pulled away and placed her head in my shoulder. "Welcome home, dear." she whispered. Ed and Al both placed their hands on my shoulder. "Welcome home Drake!" they said in unison. "Thanks. Glad to be home." I answered as we held each other in a group hug.

"Glad to be home, for good."

 **And that, my friends, is the end of part one of this story.**

 **I am now working on part two, called:**

" **The Blade Alchemist: The War"**

 **I hope that you all have enjoyed reading so far, and look forward to reviews on what you guys think.**

 **I really enjoyed writing this story and look forward to continuing the journey.**

 **Thank you all for reading.**


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